


In my next life, I wish to be reborn as a Hero

by ShortcakeCrow



Category: DanPlan
Genre: (kinda), Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blood and Violence, Fantasy, Gen, Post-Apocalypse, but im adding a warning for people who are super squeamish with blood, its not that dark dw, ive added a lot of my own flair though, loosely inspired by their rpg series and a couple other things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21575530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShortcakeCrow/pseuds/ShortcakeCrow
Summary: A reckless adventurer, a jaded necromancer, and a runaway priest forge an unlikely bond on a journey to salvage what's left of humanity in a land filled with danger at every turn. Nightmarish creatures aren't the only threat, however, and our heroes' determination is soon put to the test as they realise the quest may end up costing them more than they've bargained for.Just how much would you be willing to sacrifice for what you hold dear?
Comments: 61
Kudos: 99





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello! i have not written anything outside of a drabble or two in a very long time but inspiration struck me over the head with a heavy ass hammer so here we are. i was worried that my skills would be super rusty but they actually seemed to have improved somehow??? not to stroke my own ego or anything but this is probably the best thing ive written so far lmao... actually yes, totally to stroke my own ego, i worked extra hard on this and i am extremely proud of it. :v
> 
> big thanks to nagi (The Bae) for helping me out with editing!! i am a lazy bastard with rereading my own stuff plus english is an evil, evil language and i am small brain.

The occasional sound of water droplets rolling down stalactites and splashing onto the floor was gradually overridden by the noise of footsteps taken in heavy boots, and metal scraping against the cave walls whenever the young man was a bit too careless and let the sword hanging by his side make contact with the rock.

He was dressed in light armor made of leather; perhaps not the best form of protection, but ideal for the journey he was on, especially with how little he had left in terms of food and water in the bag he was carrying on his back. On his index finger glinted the only piece of jewelry he wore: a ring made of silver, just a tad large in size, enough to softly slide back and forth whenever he made movements too exaggerated.

The young man’s name was Daniel.

He’d been travelling for quite a long time now – so long, in fact, that he hadn’t even bothered to keep track of the passing days or weeks after a while. Despite that, his determination had remained strong.

The underground caves he was traversing might as well had been labeled a maze. If he hadn’t received a map from that nun he ran across a week or so ago, he would have surely gotten completely lost by now. And if it hadn’t been for the enchanted torches lining the walls, he wouldn’t have been able to see further than the tip of his nose.

He took a swig of his flask after he slid down a smaller slope, only to barely avoid choking on it a moment later as he heard what sounded like a faint voice in the distance. His face lit up, and he eagerly shoved the flask back into his bag, quickening his pace in the direction the sound had come from.

As he poked his head into what appeared to be a clearing of some sort… or maybe he should’ve referred to it as an unnaturally smooth and spacious area that looked as though someone had scooped out a piece of the ground with a gigantic wooden spoon. In it, he spotted a cloaked figure holding onto a tall staff, a glowing gemstone protruding from the top of the wood.

Immediately, he felt a huge wave of relief wash over his entire body – which may have been the reason he let his guard down completely –, and approached the stranger with a friendly wave and a loud greeting.

“Hello there!”

The stranger gave a panicked glance in his direction, his grip on the staff tightening, before his expression morphed into something between incredulousness and wary. He was only a bit taller than Daniel, but he gave off a rather threatening aura regardless that even Daniel could sense, as though the slightest bit of misstep could cause him to end up skewered on that funky looking staff of his.

Even so, Daniel chose to remain hopeful, and he held a hand out for a friendly handshake.

“I’ve been looking for you! I’ve heard many stories about all the amazing spells you can do- Actually, I’m here to ask for your help with something regarding that,” he babbled on excitedly, continuing to hold his hand out even after it was met with a narrowed look of disapproval. “I’m Daniel, by the way. I’m afraid I haven’t figured out your name-“

“Stephen,” the stranger cut him off, visibly relaxing little by little, his demeanor slowly shifting from suspicion to that of annoyance. “What the hell are you doing down here on your own?”

“I’ve been searching for you!” Daniel repeated, not at all deterred by the unfriendly tone.

“Yes, you already said that,” Stephen nodded his head impatiently, cocking it to the side soon with tightly pursed lips before he continued. “You obviously have some sort of ulterior motive, so save us both some time and start with that.”

“Well, you see, it’s something that requires quite a bit of skill to pull off-“

“Uh huh…”

“-and knowledge of dark magic that only someone of your skill could possibly possess-“

“Okay…”

“-as such, seeing as how you’re the only necromancer I was capable of tracking down, I have no other choice-“

“Oh, would you just get to it already!” Stephen snapped, lifting his staff off the ground to ever so slightly tilt it in the direction of his unfazed conversational partner, as though he was implying he was about to conjure up something that’d shut him up rather forcefully if he didn’t comply. “Better yet, we can pretend I’ve refused already, because I can already tell the answer is going to be an overwhelmingly positive ‘no’.”

“Now, now, I haven’t even gotten to the most important part yet,“ Daniel clapped his hands together in a motion that could have just as easily been interpreted as a plea as a gesture of encouragement. Stephen could only scoff.

A moment later, however, he went completely rigid, and Daniel felt the dramatic narrative he was about to unleash get stuck in his throat as he turned his head in the direction Stephen appeared to be looking in.

He was met with a pair of glowing red eyes staring down at the two of them, and he felt a shiver go down his spine as the sudden spike in adrenaline caused his ears to begin quietly ringing. He took a step back, and the creature advanced in kind.

Four pairs of long, furry legs carried a fat, bulbous body, bulging veins visible behind the patches of hair its spider-like body was covered in, so grotesque in shape that Daniel couldn't tell if it was the torso or abdomen, eight beady eyes scattered over its joints. Its abdomen opened up to reveal several rows of razor sharp teeth, the stench of death hitting the pair right away.

Daniel’s fingers found their way around the hilt of his sword, and he stood completely motionlessly, his eyes glued to the monster. He thought he heard Stephen suck in a sharp breath.

“Congratulations, loudmouth.”

Before Daniel could retort that Stephen had technically been several times louder, and, as such, surely bore more of the blame, the creature’s legs buckled underneath it, and it leapt at the two of them at a horrifying speed. The ground shook severely as its heavy body made contact with it again, and Daniel was almost knocked off his feet, causing him to sharply bite his tongue as he was about to shout a warning at Stephen.

The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, and, overcome by a fit of coughs, all he could do was watch as Stephen collided with a stalagmite situated at the edge of one of the many tunnels around them, his staff sliding across the ground, far out of his reach.

* * *

Stephen’s head was pounding, but it was nothing compared to the intense pain radiating from his left arm – he couldn’t tell if it was broken or not, but it most definitely felt like it. Despite his barely present consciousness, his mind far too foggy to think coherent thoughts until the feelings of pain would subside even a little, disjointed and jumbled curses swam through his head towards the incompetent fool that had gotten him into this predicament. He wanted to reach for his staff, but his fingers made contact with nothing but the cold rocks he was sprawled across, and, vaguely aware of the creature heading towards him thanks to the increasingly strong tremors spreading throughout the floor, he rolled from his back onto his stomach with great difficulty, trying not to put too much pressure on his injured arm.

That buffoon was gone by now, he had to be. He had left Stephen on his own to run for his life – probably the only smart move he’d ever made in his entire worthless life. It was just what Stephen would have done: let the monster be occupied with its prey and sprint away as fast as possible before he could be next.

And now, here he was, about to become minced meat – perhaps it was the gods’ way of letting him know that he should have listened to his instincts… A divine message, informing him that all this time, he’d been correct in his assumption that any foolish traveller begging him for favors was to be turned away without being listened to, as their requests weren’t actually worth the trouble.

If only he could enchant himself to rise as a vengeful, undead spirit, shoving his boots up _this troublesome traveller’s ass_ for the rest of his existence.

As the creature towered over him, its mouth hungrily closing in on his defenseless body – that may as well have been a sack of potatoes placed on a nice, white plate, garnished with leaves of lettuce –, he let his eyes fall closed, giving in to his inevitable fate with bitter acceptance.

Except, instead of teeth chomping down on his flesh, the next sensation he was met with was a rough kick in the side, which sent him rolling further back – unmistakably human, and unmistakably belonging to the clown Stephen thought had left him behind.

And yet, there he was – his sword embedded in the creature’s abdomen, Daniel gritted his teeth as he pulled on it with all his strength, tumbling backwards when his weapon finally came loose, a spray of violet blood erupting from the open wound. The spider let out a deafening roar of agony, trying its best to trample over Daniel with several of its feet, the man in question managing to just barely dodge the strikes as he clambered to his feet.

Stephen felt rage bubble up inside of him – rage that his completely logical assessment had turned out to be wrong, rage that he was forced to witness yet again another act of ridiculous naivety, rage that the best way this moron thought to save him was kicking him in the damn ribs when they’d probably already gotten cracked, and, worst of all, rage that there was any possibility that he could end up indebted to the same person he’d been flinging insults towards until this point.

His lips parted before he could even realise what he was doing, and a screech of raw anger reverberated through their rather echoey surroundings.

_“YOU GODDAMN IDIOT!”_

The spider’s gaze met Stephen’s own once again, and, for the second time in row, he was forced to come to a conclusion that he very much wanted to ignore – Daniel was a thousand times more stupidly courageous and heroic than any adventurer he’d come across before. Stance now steady, Daniel leapt towards the monster with his sword clutched tightly in his hands, slicing off one of its hind legs, as though the limb was made of butter. The creature unleashed another ear-piercing cry as the rest of its legs caved in beneath it, unable to support its weight in their current state, and Daniel didn’t waste a second before diving onto its back, using the tufts of hair covering it to climb further and further up, sword tightly squeezed between his knees.

Within moments, the blade was buried deep within the creature’s head, and Daniel held onto it tightly as the monster thrashed around fruitlessly, coating the surrounding area in a deep shade of violet.

When it finally went still, the last bit of life leaving its mangled body, Daniel pulled his sword out again and slid down onto the ground, landing with the grace of a goose on stilts, but managing to stay on his feet nonetheless. He wiped the blade clean with a piece of cloth he'd fished out of his bag which he then discarded moments later, and he sauntered over to Stephen with a confident smirk, clearly glowing with confidence from the feat he’d just accomplished.

Despite that, now that the pain in his arm and sides had settled down and transformed into a dull ache, Stephen didn’t miss the way his hands still trembled a little.

Lightly smacking away the outstretched hand of assistance that was offered to him, Stephen got to his feet with a bit of difficulty, staggering over to his staff so he could regain the sense of safety it always gave him. Daniel followed him persistently even now, like a cute stray dog, begging him to be taken in and given a chance.

Stephen clicked his tongue.

“Why didn’t you run?” he finally inquired after he’d checked to make sure his staff was still in perfect shape.

“I can’t just leave someone behind when they’re in need of saving,” Daniel responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He took another cautious step towards Stephen, palms out, like he was trying to approach a wild animal so he could give it a pat. “Let me see your arm.”

“I don’t need your help!” Stephen snapped back, jabbing him in the side with his staff in hopes that it would be enough to deter him for now. Remembering what had caused the situation they had just gotten out of alive by some miracle, he’d reflexively lowered his voice from a shout to a barely restrained grumble mid-sentence.

“Need I remind you that you’d probably be dead without me?” Daniel crossed his arms, giving him an expectant look – perhaps he wasn’t looking for an explicit ‘thank you’, but the smug undertones his voice had made Stephen want to express anything but.

“Good!” Stephen huffed, blissfully unaware about how childish his current tantrum was coming off.

“You could at least hear me out. In exchange for me saving your life.”

Stephen rolled his eyes so hard, they would have popped out of his skull and rolled away had he actually transformed into an undead. Daniel took that as a sign to continue, but the next words he uttered made Stephen do a double take with widened eyes.

“I want to close the Gate.”

Silence followed; Daniel was clearly waiting for a reply, and Stephen was in sheer disbelief about how casually he just said that, like the way one would express wanting to go on a picnic or wanting to visit their grandmother.

Then again, with what the word had turned into, those things would have been considerably more difficult to pull off without the loss of any extremities.

But still, _the Gate?_ Was this guy serious? It was quite possible he was just playing some kind of a joke, perhaps to get Stephen to agree to a much less ludicrous deal easier by contrasting it with something he wouldn’t accept in a million years. And so, he remained quiet, awaiting the punchline – but it never came.

“I- What? Did I hear that right?”

Daniel nodded.

“I want to close the Gate.”

And there it was again. No joke, no fake-out; Daniel was honest-to-gods asking him to accompany him on a journey that would most definitely end with both of them dead before they could even make it to the halfway point… and he was seriously considering that there was any chance Stephen would be happy to go along with it?

“Good luck with that,” he replied in a deadpan manner, turning around sharply and starting to walk off, anticipating Daniel’s next move – maybe he would try to bribe him with something? Tough chance it would work, though. There wasn’t much in this world that Stephen would want that he couldn’t obtain himself, and the list got even smaller when he had to narrow it down to possessions he would be willing to go on a quest of certain death for.

This time, however, Daniel actually stayed put; Stephen even subtly glanced over his shoulder to make sure.

“Wow, that sure is cold of you,” Daniel remarked, exhaling a sigh of disappointment. “I suppose you’re just going to leave me here on my own now, even though you technically owe me?”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“An unfortunate turn of events…”

Oh, he was absolutely positive he was being sarcastic; there was no way a human being could speak in that tone of voice and be actually genuine.

“I wonder how you’ll manage to live yourself with the knowledge that you never repaid what you owe me…”

There it was: the catch.

Daniel appeared to be very satisfied with himself.

Stephen was very tempted to transform him into a toad and dissect him later.

Even so, he felt himself hesitate. Annoying as Daniel was, he was still correct – if it hadn’t been for him, Stephen would have certainly become a delicious and nutritious meal for that monstrous spider, and while he’d been certain that he’d already stifled any part of himself that would have been willing to pipe up with words of sympathy, something deep within him began to stir.

It had to have been his endless hatred for owing people favors… of course.

He shook his head in disbelief.

“Listen,” he turned back to face Daniel, staff pointed at him in an accusatory manner, “if you want to play the hero, that’s fine by me, but you’re not going to get me involved. Oh, I’ll _go_ with you, but only until the first opportunity arises where I can repay you. Do you understand? As soon as that’s done, farewell, Dan.”

Daniel’s face lit up like a lantern that had finally been ignited.

“I’ll take that! You won’t regret it, I’ll give you my word-“

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Stephen sneered, giving him a whack of warning with his staff.

He most assuredly was not looking forward to having to travel anywhere with this dolt.


	2. Chapter 2

_It was deadly quiet, to the point where the sound of flies flocking around the corpses strewn about felt almost deafening. The children were huddled together in the corner of their hut, the eldest silently raising a finger to his lips to signal the younger ones not to make a single noise. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face, his shirt’s torn sleeve still wet with blood that wasn’t his own. He could just barely see out the window without having to move his head._

_The sunset had painted the village in sickeningly bright shades of orange and red._

_He knew they couldn’t stay in the same spot forever, but, even though he was trying to act tough for the sake of the other two, he was far too terrified to move. He’d never seen a creature like that before – rather than the animals he’d seen the villagers hunt, it moreso resembled a monster out of a scary bedtime story, or some kind of morbid fairy tale._

_As he took a shaky breath, the heavy footsteps he thought had passed them by a long time ago gradually got louder and louder once again, and he could’ve sworn his heart stopped beating for a second or two before going into a violent frenzy inside his ribcage._

Stephen awoke with a panicked gasp, drenched in sweat from head to toe, his hair flatly sticking to his head. It took him more than a moment to regain his composure – it had been a while since he’d had a nightmare that felt this real. His cloak – which he’d folded up to use as a pillow the previous night – now felt like it was suffocating him, parts of it covering his face and neck. He pushed himself up into a sitting position as he swatted the cloth away.

Fortunately Daniel had remained asleep, curled up into a strange, seemingly incredibly uncomfortable position that made Stephen’s back hurt from merely looking at it. Stephen muttered a curse under his breath, reaching for his staff, like a child would for their favourite doll, gripping it tightly as he waited for his heartbeat to calm down properly so he could attempt to get a few more hours of sleep before his companion decided they had to get a move on.

Caves weren’t the most comfortable places to lie down in, but they were even worse without the makeshift nest he’d been forced to leave behind, that he’d built for himself out of twigs, branches, and a couple stolen blankets.

* * *

The rising sun shone down at them brightly, coating the valley they’d arrived in after they’d reached the surface in a warm, golden light. Birds were chirping loudly in the countless trees that were scattered in the area, the many gorgeous flowers only adding to the view, albeit most of them hadn’t gotten to bloom yet. They were surrounded by tall, imposing mountains in every direction, which probably would’ve given Stephen a temporary ease of mind, had he been accompanying literally anyone else he’d been acquainted with.

The Gate could actually be seen in the distance now that they weren’t underground anymore; it loomed threateningly over the land in the form of a ray of light shooting towards the sky that was present at all times, like some kind of vertical horizon line, sure to remind anyone who dared to forget about what the world had turned into. It could have been considered beautiful, even, by one unaware of its implications.

Daniel seemed to be enjoying a pleasant swim in the gigantic lake Stephen was using to clean himself, his clothes discarded for the time being on shore. Stephen had to fight the urge to run off with them and cackle in the distance at the distressed adventurer who would presumably have to chase after him buck naked.

Aside from his ring, at the very least… He didn’t seem like he was going to take that off anytime soon.

It had taken them over a week to get this far, and Stephen already had to very regularly remind himself why he was coming along at all, his patience starting to wearing thin.

In any case, they didn’t appear to be in immediate danger for the time being.

Perched atop a rock at the very edge of the lake like a very disgruntled vulture, finally finished with scrubbing the dry blood and grime off – which he had to perform one-handed, mind you, as Daniel had forced his most likely broken arm into a splint he’d fashioned from wood and cloth –, Stephen dunked his hand into the water one more time, combing his fingers through his hair afterwards, partially to get rid of some of the sweat from the previous night, and partially to get it to assume its usual wild and untamed form.

His preening managed to distract him enough for him not to notice Daniel until he was already only a couple feet away, beckoning him to join him in the water.

“Come on, it’s really refreshing!”

“One of us has to be ready to fend off danger,” Stephen responded simply, brows furrowing in an unimpressed manner. With a quick glance at the staff beside him, he made sure he’d still be able to grab it instantaneously if the situation called for it.

“I don’t think there are any monsters in this area, though,” Daniel craned his neck, as though to confirm the statement. “Everything seems pretty peaceful.”

“Almost _too _peaceful if you ask me… Put some clothes on.”

“Do you know what happens to leather when it gets wet?”

“I meant on the shore, you moron!” Stephen retorted, rolling his eyes in an exasperated manner. “You’ve been in there for ages! You’ll end up with webbed toes and gills if you’re not careful.”

Daniel let out a lighthearted laugh as he paddled away.

How could this guy be so relaxed? Stephen couldn’t even remember the last time he was able to venture out into nature without being attacked by someone or some_thing_ sooner or later. Perhaps before the Gate had been opened… Before terrifying creatures of nightmares were unleashed from their realm and began to roam the land…

Before his own village and most of the kingdom had been wiped out.

He had no idea about the state of the world outside of this land to this day, as messenger crows and pigeons had become incredibly scarce soon after, but he didn’t have very high hopes.

He was starting to realise why Daniel had been irritating him so much – the jealousy that filled his chest every time he threw a carefree glance his way felt like thick, viscous poison, threatening to boil over and consume everything in its path in a fit of unjustified but powerful burst of anger.

With a tightly clenched jaw, Stephen stubbornly turned his head away.

He got to his feet, staff in hand, ready to explore the nearby trees for edible fruit of some kind, when a small shiver travelled down his spine, causing every muscle in his body to instantly snap to attention. He had somewhat of a sixth sense, and though it tended to escape him when he happened to get much too riled up about something, which was… fairly often, it was, no doubt, one of the main contributing factors as to how he’d managed to stay relatively safe up until recently. This also meant that whenever his chest tightened with unknown anxiety, he had a good reason to be genuinely worried about it.

He took a deep breath instinctively, carefully taking a couple steps back to hide in the shade of a smaller tree, assessing his surroundings as best he could. There was no sign of anything on the ground, or at least nothing that could pose a threat, judging by the lack of earthquakes and whatnot, but Stephen didn’t let his guard down for even a second.

Glancing in Daniel’s direction from the corner of his eye, he could see him finally getting dressed – good; the lake had been quite shallow to begin with despite its size, but they could never be sure whether or not something dangerous was still hiding inside of it. That, however, only left one possibility…

Stephen’s head softly collided with the trunk behind him as he tilted it upwards, eyes squinting in an attempt to shield them from the sun. The call of a bird of prey sounded in the distance.

“Dan-”

Daniel, shirt in hand, turned towards him with a questioning look.

“You probably want to hurry up with that.”

Perhaps he sensed the urgency in Stephen’s tone, or perhaps he was just in an unnaturally cooperative mood, but Daniel complied, pulling his shirt over his head, stepping into his boots and lacing them up with quick, smooth movements, like he’d done it enough times in the past for it to have been ingrained in his muscle memory. His sword was hanging from his waist, already in its sheath, and he only had bits and pieces of his armor left.

Stephen gestured at him impatiently to just get going already, but he soon froze mid-movement, a light breeze grazing the side of his head.

A shadow passed over him, and he managed to catch a glimpse of an outstretched wing before it disappeared again – though the leaves provided a cover rather useful, they also made it considerably more difficult to make out anything soaring above.

A shriek from Daniel’s direction alerted Stephen just in time to witness him being lifted into the air, thrashing around and flailing wildly between the claws that were currently clamped tightly around his upper half. At least his armor seemed to provide some protection, though only the gods knew how long that would last.

Time slowed down as Stephen weighed his options.

He wasn’t much of a fighter on his own, not like this. Maybe they should’ve gone back to resurrect that giant spider before they’d left – then again, it wouldn’t have been much use against something that could fly, and it would’ve sapped all of Stephen’s remaining energy… which hadn’t been much to begin with.

Besides, there was no use thinking about ‘could’s and ‘should’s at this point.

He supposed he could try to shoot it out of the air with a spell, but what then? Even if it landed in the water, it wouldn’t be deep enough to cause it to drown… and Daniel might also get crushed underneath it in the process. Since it hadn’t devoured him immediately, it was very likely that it was saving him for a later meal, so there was a better chance of him getting away mostly unscathed after he was dropped off already…

Stephen hesitated just enough for the creature to start flapping its wings again, sending torn leaves and flowers into violent flurry with the strong gusts of wind its movements created, and as it took off into the distance, it left behind something quite shiny.

The object plummeted towards the ground at an alarming velocity, blinding Stephen momentarily with a reflection of the sun on its way down, embedding itself in the earth once it collided with it. Stephen approached it cautiously, and his heart sank when he was able to make it out properly.

It was Daniel’s sword. It must’ve slipped out of its sheath during his frantic struggling.

Stephen wanted to swallow the lump that had appeared in his throat, but his mouth had dried out far too much.

Oh, _so what?_ At least now he was free of that troublesome pest. Now… he could finally return to the caves he’d been living in for the past who-knows-how-long without fear of perishing while trying to keep someone he most definitely didn’t have any affinity for alive.

So then… What was he still waiting for?

He couldn’t tell. Stephen had no idea what was going on inside his head – or, more accurately, he understood it _all too well_, and was repressing it with all of his willpower even at this very moment. Empathy and love had become weaknesses in this world, and, if he wanted to survive, he had to discard anything and everything that would leave him vulnerable and open to any degree.

His feet moved on their own, taking slow, small steps one after another, and, once it was within reach, his fingers glided across the hilt of the sword delicately, as though he was afraid it might shatter if he so much as poked it in the wrong spot. It seemed to be somewhat worn down, but not enough for its capabilities to be damaged – as though the owner had taken great care to keep it in good shape but had been using it long enough for it to leave its marks. It seemed to be made of steel, and it was considerably bulkier than most of the swords Stephen was used to seeing. It must have been fairly costly to forge.

His fingers curled around the hilt, and as he yanked it out of the dirt, he stumbled backwards, almost dropping it in the process, not expecting the heavy weight that would come with it. Had Daniel seriously been swinging something like this around all this time…?

Stephen directed his gaze at the gradually shrinking shape in the sky, heading towards one of the mountaintops on a route straight enough for its destination to be glaringly obvious, and he let out a heavy sigh.

* * *

Daniel was starting to feel increasingly nauseous – the creature’s manner of flying very much resembled wild ocean waves created by a windy storm and being taken on a ride on it was akin to traversing said waters in a tiny little wooden boat, at the complete mercy of Mother Nature. Dark feathers passed him by occasionally, fluttering towards the ground and disappearing from view after a while, which, while gripped in its claws, was really all he could make out of the monster that had snatched him up.

He had to wonder if Stephen would be willing to give chase at all, or if he’d abandoned him for good. Possibly against his better judgment, he wanted to have faith in his newfound companion, even if he wasn’t quite sure what he could do to rescue him from his situation; it may have been too optimistic of him, but knowing how plentiful spells were in this world, he was sure he would be able to find one that would prove to be perfectly suitable. He had hoped Stephen would loosen up a little if they were able to take a break and unwind, but he seemed determined to keep up the attitude until the bitter end.

Still, he was Daniel’s only hope… no, the entire kingdom’s, possibly the entire world’s. Daniel had no choice but to believe that he would come through. Besides, even if it had been only for a brief moment… he thought he’d sensed something akin to compassion in the grouchy man.

Occupied with his current musings – and his sea… airsickness? –, he failed to notice that they’d gotten close to their destination until his uncomfortable and pointy impromptu harness was suddenly gone, and he found himself rapidly free falling, landing a couple seconds later in what appeared to be some kind of nest. He could only imagine the only reason behind him not breaking any bones on impact being the soft cushioning that had greeted him: the countless feathers and fluff that lay at the very bottom.

Everything was also strangely sticky around him, but he would’ve preferred not to think about why.

The monster that had dropped him off seemed to be flying off once again – he must’ve been meant to be a snack for later. It had a wider wingspan than any kind of bird of prey he’d seen before, and a bright red eye stared back at him from the back of its head, as though giving him a warning.

Unfortunately Daniel wasn’t exactly fluent in pidgey.

Whatever, at least he was on his feet – now he just had to find a way back down, and he’d be good to-

He froze when he reached for his sword, his hands only grasping air, and he felt himself begin to sweat nervously when he realised his weapon had gone missing… the only thing he had to defend himself with, gone without a trace. It must’ve fallen out when he got grabbed… He could only hope Stephen had found it and was on his way at this very moment to return it to him.

He took a deep breath, smacking his own forearm lightly as a form of encouragement as he examined his surroundings more carefully.

The nest had apparently been built on one of the mountains that had encircled them before, high enough for it to give Daniel plenty of vertigo if he were to look down, but without the air being so thin that it might cause significant trouble with breathing, which he was fairly thankful for. Four large eggs surrounded him, covered in dark red spots, similar to him in size, fortunately none of them broken yet. He took a step forward only to end up jumping in shock when he heard a loud _crack_ from underneath, only to discover he’d stepped on a bone of some kind. It could’ve belonged to a human originally for all he knew, but he didn’t intend to stick around long enough to find out. He had to find something that would let him escape without the threat of slipping on accident on the dangerously steep rocks on the way down and breaking his neck.

Just then, his eyes widened as they caught the sight of a distinctly _human_ hand, and he was almost afraid to peek behind the egg to see what lay past it – it better not had been a corpse. The hand, to his relief, was _still attached_ to its owner, which appeared to be a young man with long, silver hair tied in a ponytail. His clothes were tattered and full of holes, covered in stains both new and old, and bloody cuts and scratches decorated his pale skin, but, despite that, Daniel took notice of the fancy embroidering alongside his collar and sleeves, as well as the lack of any scars older than a few weeks or so at most.

There was no doubt about it… this guy had to have been raised a rich boy. And, most importantly, he was still breathing – he might not have been _well_, but at least he was alive.

Daniel crouched down to try to gently shake him awake, but all he received was a pained moan in response. He didn’t seem like he was going to wake up anytime soon – he must’ve been shaken up quite badly… or he may have hit his head. Daniel couldn’t be sure. Either way, from what he could tell, his injuries didn’t seem to be bad enough to require immediate medical attention; he would be okay as long as Daniel could find a way to save them both.

Of course he was going to save both of them; there was no question in his mind.

He nervously twisted the ring that, to his relief, had stayed on through the entire journey.

He circled the nest a couple of times to see if he could find something of use – no rope or anything of the sort, naturally… but there weren’t even any weapons to be seen. On the bright side, there was a good chance that meant not many – if any – humans had been devoured here. On the other hand…

Would he have to scale down the mountain without any sort of tool after all…? No, that wasn’t even an option he was willing to consider. Even if there was a tiny chance that he might make it down on his own in one piece, he wouldn’t leave his new friend behind – he _couldn’t._

Wrestling back and forth with various equally terrible ideas in his head, Daniel snapped back to reality when another crack sounded from behind his back. Had the young man regained consciousness perhaps…?

When he turned around, he was met with what was, no doubt, a currently hatching egg.

A curse so vile that his grandmother would have no doubt washed his mouth out with soap had she caught wind of it slipped past his lips, and all he could do was stand and watch in shock as the newborn baby bird, the size of an adult human, broke free of its eggshell prison, three glowing eyes settling on him as soon as he was spotted.

He had heard tales of baby chicks and ducks recognising humans as their parents if they happened to be the first ones they’d see upon being born into the world – it may have been a faint hope, but Daniel clung to it nevertheless upon lack of a better option, standing motionlessly as he waited for the creature to make its move.

A moment later, his hopes were dashed as the baby monster let loose a deafening screech, clumsily clambering out of the remains of its shell, razor sharp teeth flashing inside its beak as it pecked at the air in Daniel’s direction.

Unless this species of monster was known for being especially violent towards their maternal figures, Daniel was fairly certain he’d just gotten categorized as _fresh, delicious food._

He dove out of its way, hands frantically searching for something to defend himself with – he didn’t even check to see what he’d found when his fingers knocked into it, immediately swinging it above his head in an attempt to fend off his attacker.

The object was somehow both sticky and slippery at the same time, and by the time Daniel came to the realisation that he was holding a piece of the same bone he’d stepped on earlier, it was too late for any kind of regrets; the only thing left to do was fight.

And fight, he did.

The swordplay was inelegant and, quite frankly, ridiculous, but his improvised weapon wasn’t exactly as easy to handle as a well-fitted dagger or, gods forbid, his beloved sword that _better have been safe with Stephen_, so he had to make do. Thankfully, the end he’d broken off by accident was sharp enough to cut both human and monster skin – he took notice of the former the first time he’d grabbed onto it, as he’d ended up with a bloody cut on his palm, and the latter when he actually managed to take a successful slash at the creature, drawing familiar, violet blood.

At least the bird either didn’t seem to be interested in, or hadn’t picked up on the second yummy snack lying around, or Daniel might’ve had a considerably tougher time keeping it at bay.

As it was, he did his best to patiently and carefully keep hacking away at it, occasionally parrying an attack when it was aimed too close for comfort. He almost felt like he was a young boy again, training with his father with swords made of wood, struggling to keep up but somehow staying on his feet, the narrow space available to him making it nigh impossible to dodge and attack effectively.

The memory would have absolutely been more welcome in any other scenario, if he had to be honest.

If the mother bird decided to return right now, he would surely be done for.

He couldn’t tell how much time was passing as his opponent added more and more scratches to his arms, and while he certainly hadn’t been a slacker before, he was coming to appreciate the hours and hours he’d spent training every day before he’d left on this quest more and more. Sweat dripped down his face and neck, his hair damp enough to begin resembling a very sad nest itself, his feet aching from the uneven surface he’d been jumping and rolling around on without rest.

Was the monster getting any more tired at all…? Or did it somehow possess an unlimited amount of stamina? Gods, he wished he could at least have a moment to sip some water – though his bag had also been left behind, so it wasn’t like he had anything on him that could even remotely qualify as refreshment.

Knowing that he might very well run out of energy far before the bird at this rate, he forced himself to gather up all the willpower he had left, and he got to working on being able to corner it instead, discarding defense in favor of complete and absolute offense. His armor still provided protection, even if he wasn’t exactly invincible, and as long as his arms remained functional, he could keep going – he could bear with the pain of any possible injury.

Just like that, with bloodstains spreading across his clothes – some of it from the creature, some of it from his own wounds –, his muscles screaming for mercy, his lungs on fire, but obtaining the perfect position, the perfect angle, and the perfect moment, Daniel landed one final, desperate blow… and the creature crashed onto its stomach, blood spraying from the hole Daniel had managed to tear in its neck.

He must have severed a major artery, because it stopped moving shortly after that.

Daniel collapsed to his knees, but they gave way soon as well, buckling underneath him and causing his face to collide with a matted cloud off fluff, still moist with what was more than likely a mixture of blood and sweat, but he was far too exhausted to care.

He ended up rolling onto his back when he realised he couldn’t breathe face down, the bone rolling away, as he’d allowed his tired joints to let go of it. He did it. He actually did it. Not that he hadn’t had faith in himself before, but actually carrying out his plan of action was amazingly different from simply envisioning it – as though the gods themselves had raised him up to the heavens, hanging a golden medal from his neck that he would be able to wear proudly for the rest of his life.

He may have been exaggerating a little, but, in his defense, he had gotten extremely lightheaded.

The strength to get back up again came to him when he was struck by the vision of the mother bird returning to take revenge for its murdered offspring, and he pulled himself up with a heavy groan. A pair of icy blue eyes gazed into his own, and as he opened his mouth to react verbally in some way, a dry croak escaped his throat.

The silver-haired young man’s expression was full of concern, and he gently took hold of Daniel’s shoulders to steady him as he coughed.

“Are you alright?”

The question flew right by him as Daniel studied the stranger with his head spinning a little, blurting out his next line with late enough timing that he might have given the other man a reason to wonder if he’d hit his head.

“Oh… you’re awake.”

The man blinked once.

Daniel held out an unsteady hand.

“I’m Daniel.”

The handshake was accepted in a manner that was somewhat awkward and stiff, but he couldn’t really blame his new companion for that.

“I’m… Hosuh,” came the reply, spoken with a bit of uncertainty, like he was unsure if he should be sharing that kind of information. Daniel may have had to question him about a few things later. “I’m not sure where we are, but-“

“Inside a monster’s nest on a mountain,” Daniel responded automatically, still slightly dazed.

“I- _What!?_ That’s… That’s terrible, we need to-“

As Daniel threw a casual glance over the nest again, he spotted something that made him do a sudden double take, cutting off Hosuh in the process with an exclamation of excitement.

“Stephen!”

Daniel waved his outstretched arm back and forth wildly in the hopes that it would help the visibly disgruntled man notice him faster; he had to admit, he hadn’t been at all sure if he could’ve even expected him to show up at all, but there he was, scaling the side of the mountain with a faint, scarlet glow surrounding his hands and feet, Daniel’s sword hanging from his back, secured to his torso with rope. He was panting rather heavily.

Hosuh joined Daniel in peering over the edge of the nest, not even attempting to hide his confusion, but Daniel was far too distracted with the overwhelming joy currently flooding his chest to address it with an explanation.

When Stephen finally reached the nest, Daniel assisted him in climbing inside, letting him rest for a bit so he could catch his breath enough to at least talk. He must have enchanted his arm as well, as not only was the splint Daniel had fashioned for him gone, he didn’t seem to be having trouble moving it at all.

Of course, the first thing Stephen did was snap.

“You would not _believe_ the trouble I went through to follow you here!”

Daniel broke into an even wider smile than the previous one he’d worn.

“Stephen, I’m so happy to see you!”

Stephen grumbled something that sounded eerily similar to a curse Daniel had heard his own father repeat often, which, back at home, had always been a cranky way of expressing affection, and he didn’t even flinch when Stephen sat back up, shoving his sword at him to take.

“I thought you might need this,” Stephen said dryly, rolling his eyes when Daniel gave him a sincere ‘thank you’, smacking him in the face with his bag, which Daniel gratefully accepted as well. “Who’s the deadweight?” he motioned towards Hosuh, who stuttered out a mildly offended and baffled ‘hey’ as Daniel recounted the events that had transpired in his absence.

Despite the stern scowl Stephen was wearing, he listened carefully, his shoulders sinking a tiny bit from the tense posture they’d been stuck in for a while now, letting Daniel know that yes, _he had indeed, maybe, possibly been perhaps just a little worried_, intent as he was on hiding that fact. Now that he’d caught a glimpse of Stephen’s conscience, Daniel was filled with a renewed sense of vigor, his resolve recovering quickly.

Stephen really must have been a good person inside, no matter how much his demeanor suggested otherwise.

Daniel might have even given him a hug if he wasn’t sure he’d be pushing his luck doing such a thing so early.

“Could you get us down the same way you climbed up here?” Daniel questioned once he was finished filling him in, earning a flat look.

“Are you serious? There’s no way I’d be able to carry even a single person, let alone two of you,” he scoffed, crossing his arms. “I do have a plan, though… I suggest we leave this guy here to make sure it actually succeeds.”

“Please don’t,” Hosuh protested weakly. He didn’t even seem to have it in him to get irritated – whether or not he was too passive to stand up for himself, had an endless amount of patience, or was merely too drained to fuel and kind of anger after the day’s events remained a mystery. Daniel gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Don’t be like that, Stephen, he seems like a really nice guy. Who knows, he might even be able to help us out in some way if we help him get out of here.”

Hosuh appeared to agree, as he nodded vigorously.

Stephen clicked his tongue.

“Either way, I’ll need you to move… and don’t interrupt me while I’m casting, or I might accidentally transform one of you into a bipedal frog.”

Neither Hosuh nor Daniel cared to argue.

Closing his eyes to be able to focus better, Stephen began to chant, the gemstone embedded in his staff flickering in shades of ochre and crimson, brighter than the orange rays of the sun that had started to set in the meantime. The corpse of the bird Daniel had slayed seemed to be pulsating with light from the inside; Daniel thought he may have figured out what kind of spell Stephen had in mind.

Whatever color Hosuh’s face still had drained out of it in the blink of an eye as he stared at the body, its eyes opening to reveal that they had turned a sickly yellow, resembling old parchment. The reanimated monster shook its head to get rid of some of the dry blood and dirt that had gotten stuck to its naked skin, pitch black feathers sprouting from it in seconds. Daniel found it genuinely fascinating to watch.

Stephen lowered his staff with a smug smirk.

“Get on.”

Just as he said that, however, the echo of a faint, but familiar cry reached all three of them.

Stephen swore.

“Hurry!”

He shoved Daniel onto the monster’s back first, climbing on himself right after; Daniel reached out a hand to Hosuh so he could hoist him up as well.

“It won’t be able to take all the weight!” Stephen warned him with increasing agitation, having located the rapidly approaching bad news that was about to more than likely chomp them all down. “We won’t make it!”

“We have to!” Daniel shook his head adamantly, yanking on Hosuh’s arm hard enough for him to land on top of the creature as well, laying across it like a bag of potatoes.

Stephen recognised that Daniel wasn’t going to budge, and he screamed an order at the now undead bird to take off already, leaving Hosuh with just enough time to haul himself up and cling to its neck tightly – thank the gods the undead had no need for air.

The cacophony of shrieks and cries would have made it impossible for an outsider to tell who was the most terrified, but, in any case, the trio hung on for dear life, the distance between them and the enraged mother bird decreasing with each and every passing second alongside their altitude – Stephen had been right; at this rate, they were going to crash into rocks below, and if they were to somehow survive past that, become bird food.

_“One of you, do something!” _Stephen screeched, making it rather obvious that he was out of tricks for the time being. Not that Daniel had anything up his sleeve, or inside his bag; unless the mother bird was interested in the small bits of sweet potato he still had left, he doubted he’d be able to do anything himself.

He let out a cry of surprise when the undead bird suddenly took a sharp turn, and he barely avoided biting his tongue again.

He realised Hosuh had made an attempt at steering their new pet.

Gripping the feathers surrounding its neck and breast, Hosuh let loose something that may have been meant as encouragement, but only sounded like a wail of unconfident wishful thinking.

“I’ve ridden horses before, we might be okay…!”

_“This isn’t a horse!”_

Stephen’s shrill retort hurt Daniel’s hears.

Hosuh directed the undead bird to head towards one of the mountains, and Daniel concentrated on pacifying Stephen to the best of his abilities, trying not to also slide off and fall to his doom in the process, hoping Hosuh knew what he was doing.

The mother bird was only a couple feet away now, its beak hungrily opening and slamming shut at an distressing rate, and Stephen, sitting furthest in the back, clung to Daniel’s back, like he was intending to drag him down alongside him if the bird managed to catch its prey.

A single warning shout came from Hosuh.

“Duck!”

And, considering neither Daniel nor Stephen had a death wish, duck, they did. Just in time as well, as they entered an incredibly narrow cave at an alarming velocity; the sides of Daniel’s knees lightly brushed past the walls, and he shuddered to think what could have happened if any of them had had any of their arms outstretched to the side.

The mother bird had been following them closely enough not to have any time to dodge, and its head smashed through the rocks painfully, causing large cracks to start forming in the cave’s walls – which, on second thought, appeared to be more of a tunnel –, and the trio held on tightly as Hosuh drove them through the collapsing passageway, the undead bird’s wings tucked against its torso to prevent them being ripped off, only able to use its body and the weight on top of it to maneuver, the built up momentum enough to keep them moving.

They left the tunnel just before the exit was sealed off completely, and Daniel didn’t dare to look back to see if the mother bird had survived or not, as they still had one more problem at hand: the ground was fast approaching.

Having passed right through a mountain, now a dense forest lay beneath them; a safer landing than a bed of rocks, perhaps, but not exactly reassuring just yet. Despite that, though, they didn’t have much choice, as there wasn’t anything akin to a deeper lake or river that may have softened the landing on the human participants.

They ended up crashing into the trees, their clothes and exposed parts of skin receiving a generous amount of scratches from the twigs they broke off in the process, getting picked off the undead bird one by one when a clothing item of theirs got hooked on one of the branches. Getting yanked off the very same way, Daniel found himself with a mouth full of dirt and leaves a few seconds later, a bush softening his fall, and he lifted a dazed head to see Stephen hanging about ten feet in the air by his hood, flailing around violently to get himself free. To his right was Hosuh, who had been plucked off similarly, now attempting to untangle himself from a bunch of vines.

The undead bird, now lacking any orders, was sitting atop a thick, sturdy branch that it must have hopped onto when its cargo had disappeared, somehow getting away mostly unscathed, albeit looking considerably more bald.

There was no sign of the mother bird to be seen or heard anymore.

Daniel finally allowed himself to relax.


	3. Chapter 3

The scent of cooked fish wafted in the air from the campfire in the center, the orange flames illuminating the surrounding bushes and trees, providing the only source of light aside from the milky white moon that adorned the pitch black sky, which was peppered with countless tiny stars. Stephen had never been interested in astrology, but he’d had to memorize each and every constellation nevertheless, as some were necessary variables to consider for certain rituals.

The summertime arrangement was probably the one he liked the least, but that could have also been because past summers hadn’t exactly contained pleasant memories for him, so he didn’t have much else to associate them with. It didn’t seem like this summer would be different either, if Daniel was really intent on going through with the quest he’d proposed to Stephen.

Stephen himself was still vehemently against that, of course; he was only tagging along while he deemed the journey no more dangerous than having to regularly venture out on his own to gather food and supplies. Admittedly, he had… missed being able to spend time outside. He missed the feeling of sunlight on his skin, of the breeze lightly ruffling his hair and clothes, and the sounds of nature that he rarely got to experience back home; cicadas, locusts, frogs, owls… he didn’t even mind the birds that would feel the need to chirp and sing along with the rising sun that much, annoying as he’d found them in the moment when they’d woken him up the first time.

Maybe he just… didn’t want to be in a hurry to leave all this behind right now. For the first time in forever, he felt freer than he could ever recall, paradoxical as that sounded.

Did he still owe Daniel, even after he’d gone after him? Hosuh had been the one who had _really_ saved them in the end. Sure, without Stephen, they wouldn’t have been able to leave so easily, but Stephen himself had been responsible for Daniel getting taken in the first place… and if Daniel hadn’t killed the newborn monster, Stephen wouldn’t have been able to do much either.

All these conflicting thoughts made his head spin, and he squinted at the fish he’d been roasting with the use of a wooden skewer; his expression must’ve been somewhat perplexing, as Daniel nudged him in the side with an elbow.

“You alright?”

Stephen rolled his eyes reflexively.

“Are _you_ alright? Did you really think wood would work if you hadn’t soaked it in water first?” he retorted, noting smugly the mild embarrassment that flashed on Daniel’s face for a split-second.

“Hey, setting fire to a couple of sticks isn’t going to be the end of the world-“

“We should’ve just used your sword to cook these; at least that would’ve added some salt from all the sweat I’d shed-“

“That’s disgusting,” Daniel gave him a shove, but he was very clearly also trying not to laugh.

“They should taste fine,” Hosuh piped up as well; the relaxed atmosphere must’ve reached him and made him feel comfortable enough to talk on his own. He was currently fidgeting with a blade of grass in his hand, shoulders slumped forward a tad, which made him look even smaller – and he was already considerably shorter than either of the two. “I added a lot of herbs that should do the trick, I think.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Stephen declared skeptically, taking an eager bite soon after; his shock must have translated onto his face, as Daniel immediately dug in himself.

“Thish ish dewicioush!” Daniel exclaimed with a mouthful of food, Hosuh’s lips stretching into a warm smile. The fish was _dewicioush _indeed; Stephen had gotten so used to eating bland meals, only getting to season them rarely, that he’d forgotten what _real_ cooking was like.

“Be careful with the bones,” Hosuh added a gentle warning; Daniel was wolfing his own portion down fast enough that Stephen wouldn’t have been surprised to discover he’d filled his entire throat with pin bones later.

All things considered, Daniel seemed to be doing a lot better than before. Hosuh had gathered up a bunch of grass that, to Stephen, just looked like a bunch of weeds, but apparently he’d been able to use that to treat Daniel’s and his own injuries, though there wasn’t anything he could do about Stephen’s still very much broken arm aside from making a splint for it once again, which had reverted to an even worse state after the spell he’d casted on it had worn off.

It had honestly become quite tender, but he wasn’t about to act like a wuss in front of Daniel.

Those frogs he had to sacrifice for the temporary fix wouldn’t be forgotten.

“By the way, Hosuh,” Daniel had waited to chew and swallow before addressing him this time around, “how did you get up there? Got snatched by the monster too?”

“I… don’t actually remember,” Hosuh replied, sheepishly averting his gaze. “I was really exhausted, so the last thing I can recall was passing out in the valley we were in before…”

Stephen kept quietly munching as the other two conversed with each other.

“Were you travelling somewhere?” Daniel inquired next.

“You could say that… I’m not really sure where I’m going, though.”

“Who knows, we might be able to help you out,” Daniel grinned. “We could at least point you in the right direction if you’re lucky. I’ve got a map.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that…” Hosuh smiled nervously, taking a bite of his own fish so he could gain some time before he’d have to blurt out an explanation. He’d insisted on letting the others have two each, though they’d only managed to catch five altogether. “I was robbed by a group of bandits, and they’d stolen everything I had on me. I suppose I was looking for them, but I don’t think I could catch up to them anymore.”

“What did they steal from you exactly?”

“Everything but my clothes…” Hosuh bit his lip. “My money, food, my map, my compass… and my necklace,” one of his hands absentmindedly grasped the air in front of his chest. “I have to at least get the necklace back… but I don’t know how I would go about it.”

“How long ago was this again?” Daniel tilted his head; Stephen wasn’t sure if he was liking what his body language seemed to be implying.

“Only a few days ago, so they can’t be that far…”

Daniel clasped his hands together excitedly, the last remaining bits of his meal already in his stomach, his now empty skewer discarded onto the grass.

“Stephen and I would be glad to help you get your necklace back. If they aren’t too far, I bet we could easily find them with our new pet-“

“The bird is _my_ undead minion,” Stephen cut him off, studying a currently baffled Hosuh, “but I wouldn’t be against it if you could give us some kind of reward. I’ve no use for money, but I’m sure you have something else that would be valuable.”

“W-what makes you say that?” Hosuh squeaked, looking very guilty all of a sudden.

“You’re dressed like nobility; anyone would be able to tell from a mile away as long as they had a pair of working eyes,” Stephen responded with a shrug of his shoulders.

Hosuh’s face turned a little red from the shame of being found out so easily.

“…I would really appreciate it if you could help me out, but I really don’t have anything I could give you aside from money…”

He seemed to wrestle with his next few words, like he wasn’t quite sure how he should phrase them without coming off as suspicious or especially strange. Stephen had a hard time suspecting him of being dangerous, though, considering the horrified reaction he’d had to Stephen’s tale about the frogs and all that.

All in all, he seemed like the kind of person who couldn’t hurt a fly if he tried.

“I wouldn’t exactly be welcomed back home with open arms… but that’s a long story,” Hosuh waved the topic away nonchalantly, the gesture in stark contrast with the gloomy, tired look in his eyes. He continued before any of them could pry more answers out of him. “I could, however, heal your broken arm. The necklace they’d taken is a family heirloom, and I can use it to channel the power of the gods to heal any wound. If you can truly assist me in getting it back, I can promise you your arm will be as good as new.”

Finally some good news; Stephen wasn’t about to turn an offer like _that_ down. He was even willing to overlook the secretive attitude if it meant he could dress himself without assistance.

“That’s a deal,” he gave a firm nod, punctuating the sentence by chomping down on the last bit of fish he had left.

Daniel seemed pretty pleased about these developments himself, possibly partially because he hadn’t needed to convince Stephen himself, though he also appeared to be focusing on a different part of Hosuh’s story.

“You’re a priest,” he said, realisation flashing in his eyes. What could have possibly given it away, Daniel? The long hair? The white clothes? The sermon quotes embroidered on said fabric? Or did you perhaps require him to mention ‘channeling holy power’ until you could accuse him of such a thing?

Hosuh laughed awkwardly.

“I was, until a short while ago… I don’t carry the official title anymore. I am still capable of providing the blessing of the gods, however.”

“Bless me with more savory meals, and I’ll be satisfied with your services,” Stephen performed a mock prayer, folding his arms over his chest and taking a small bow.

Hosuh didn’t seem to mind.

* * *

They’d taken turns sleeping during the night with one person at a time keeping watch, not willing to risk getting jumped if they could help it. Stephen was a little less restless with the knowledge that oblivious Daniel wasn’t the only one he could rely on to alert him to danger, though he couldn’t tell how trustworthy or useful Hosuh would be either; he just had to rely on his gut instincts, sleeping curled around his staff to make sure he could instantly strike down any visitors with harmful intentions.

As it turned out, the safety measures had been unnecessary.

By the time Stephen woke up, Hosuh was diligently preparing breakfast, roasting wild mushrooms this time; Stephen had to make sure he wasn’t drooling from the smell before he dared to call out to him.

“If we’re getting your necklace back today, my undead minion will have to be enhanced first. You remember what happened yesterday when all three of us tried to ride it at the same time.”

This would both be a test of Hosuh’s character, and a possible escape from a task he’d always hated.

“I could lend a hand with that, if you think there’s anything I can do,” Hosuh, just as Stephen had expected, was eager to offer his own services. “Although cooking might be my best skill… if you have a simple task-“

“I was hoping you’d ask, actually,” Stephen’s face settled into a wide smirk, his ulterior intentions plain for all to see. Fortunately, Hosuh seemed all too willing to hear him out. “I was wondering if you could catch some rabbits for me – or, really, any animals of a similar size. I’m going to need at least a few for the particular spell I have in mind, unless you’re willing to volunteer as a blood sacrifice.”

“Rabbits…?”

“If you could also skin them for me, that would be ideal, since I’ll only be needing their pelts,” Stephen added, miming the motion with his functional hand. “I can’t exactly do it myself in this state, so I’d _really_ appreciate it. Hell, I’m sure Daniel would let you borrow a dagger for it.”

Stephen had never been fond of having to prepare animal sacrifices himself, especially when it came to the fluffier ones – sure, the leftover meat was a nice treat, but they were just too _cute_. If he could keep the blood off his hands, he would have less trouble concentrating later. Priests were officially forbidden from hunting themselves, but Hosuh had already proven he wasn’t too concerned with that rule when he’d assisted in the fishing the previous day.

Hosuh seemed uncertain; the process did involve a fair amount of blood, but he can’t have been too uncomfortable with that if he was used to cooking, surely. After a couple moments of silence, he nodded with mix of determination and distaste in his eyes.

“If Daniel is willing to lend me a tool, I think I can manage that. What will you be doing in the meantime?”

“I’ll have to prepare some runes,” Stephen stated, turning his head to gaze at the undead bird, which was currently waiting for its next orders a couple feet away, preening its feathers. “It might take a while, so don’t disturb me too much if you don’t want me to mess it up accidentally. If we don’t want the effect to just be temporary, the spell I have to use will be a difficult one to carry out.”

“…I understand. Please just let me know when everything is ready; that’s all I ask,” Hosuh requested, walking off towards Daniel next so he could obtain a dagger from his bag.

He took two thirds of the food with him as well, presumably to share some with Daniel.

Even though he must’ve been aware that Stephen wouldn’t care enough to rat him out over it, he still wasn’t going to steal it, or even borrow it without permission; he gently shook Daniel awake before whispering him the question, letting Daniel doze back off when he received a sign of agreement.

Stephen stopped paying attention so he could perform his own part of the task, cracking his neck and fingers in preparation, chasing away the petty jealousy he felt towards the only sleeping member of the group by taking a couple bites of Hosuh’s cooking, with the knowledge that by the time Daniel woke up his food will have gone cold completely.

_Take that._

* * *

The sun was up high by the time they took off; it was well past noon, as far as Stephen could tell. The enhancement ritual had gone down without a hitch; the undead bird had grown visibly larger, now able to carry all three of them without any issues. Daniel had insisted they cook the rabbits Hosuh had caught – an exhausting task of fruitlessly chasing after the speedy balls of fluff through the forest until he thought to bait them with traps after being completely drained –, which neither of the other two were against, considering wasting food wasn’t something they were too fond of. An hour or two lost wouldn’t make much of a difference in the long run, and they’d also been craving a meal more filling than the ones they’d had before, even with, or, rather, _especially_ with Hosuh’s seasoning.

Upon Hosuh’s insistence, Daniel had told him about the quest they were on as well, recounting their endeavors before the incident with the monster birds. Not just that, though…

“I hope the guys back at home are doing fine without me. I never told them I was going to leave since they said they’d stop anyone that would try,” Daniel laughed, as though recalling a fond memory; Stephen, on the other hand, couldn’t help but picture a group of outraged villagers banded together, threatening the rest with pitchforks and whatnot. The mental image was anything but inviting. “I did leave them a letter to let them know not to worry.”

“Why weren’t they letting anyone leave?” Hosuh asked, oblivious enough to wonder about something Stephen had already figured out. It wasn’t hard to guess why humans would want to stick together in these sorts of circumstances.

“They said it would be too dangerous. I figured I’d rather take my chances with saving the world than rot away in an underground shelter, you know?”

“That sounds like a really impulsive decision…”

“So, like all of Daniel’s decisions,” Stephen remarked dryly, to which Daniel grinned delightfully.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to live a little!”

Stephen didn’t care to argue.

“Are you sure Stephen would be able to close the Gate, though?” Hosuh questioned. “I heard the mage who opened it was the most powerful in the land…”

Stephen shot him a narrowed-eyed look. He was well aware of the rumors circulating about the event. He had no reason to believe them, though, mostly because he had his own suspicions.

“Are you saying I’m not powerful enough?”

Not that he intended to go along with the quest, of course.

“I’m saying there’s room for doubt,” Hosuh insisted, growing less and less intimidated by Stephen’s glares the more he was exposed to them; perhaps Stephen was overusing them a little.

Directing his attention towards the ground below, he scanned the surrounding area as best he could; they’d been flying for a while now, how much further could those bandits be? They’d already passed by several demolished villages, all of which had been emptied out completely from what he could tell, if the collapsed houses and the complete lack of farm animals was anything to go by. He’d been used to these sights even as a child; when he’d borrow his father’s crystal ball without permission to stare into it quietly under the covers of his bed, he’d catch glimpses of victims of warzones and natural disasters in the many visions that would flood his mind, which would linger long after the ball had been taken back, and he’d received his due scolding.

The memories brought with them a bitter taste in his mouth this time around.

Another village came into view, and Stephen emptied his thoughts as he always did when he didn’t wish to confront concepts he’d rather not be dwelling on. It was too far for him to be able to make out its state at the moment, but he didn’t have very high hopes, unlike Daniel, who would loudly point out each and every landmark they’d pass by, suggesting that they search for survivors, which was quickly shot down by Stephen himself every time.

Then he felt a shiver travel down his spine, and he bit back a noise that Daniel would’ve surely made fun of him for; something here was very, _very_ wrong. Was there another monster nearby…? It was just grass and hills as far as the eye could see underneath aside from the village he’d spotted, and there were no mountains or fog that could be masking anything airborne unless it was tiny enough not to be anything to worry about.

Underground, then…? He struggled to remember the telltale signs one could use to tell whether or not a monster’s lair was somewhere nearby; it had been so long since he’d spent this much time outside, the information he’d deemed less important had gotten hazy and more and more difficult to recall. If only those cursed constellations had been the ones to be forgotten instead of this…

When he was about to voice his thoughts to his companions, Hosuh leaned to the right, seemingly peering down at something of interest himself.

“Is it just me, or are those bones over there a bit too large to be from an animal…?”

What bones…? As though he read his mind – or perhaps just caught a glimpse of the dumbfounded expression on his face –, Hosuh outstretched an arm to point out a particular spot in the middle of a field. Stephen instructed the bird to carefully approach it, leaving enough distance between them and the ground for an ambush to be impossible without the use of projectile weaponry.

Daniel must’ve been able to make out what it was faster than him, as he whistled a couple seconds before Stephen recognised it himself; a pile of huge, yellow bones, that were almost perfectly camouflaged by the surrounding plantation.

“Good eye, Hosuh.”

Stephen paid Daniel no mind, his heart beginning to race as the implications of what they’d just found splayed out in front of him, as though he was sitting at a poker table and his opponent had just dropped and scattered his own cards. Even though they had barely any meat on them left, the bones seemed fresh; familiar as he was with such things, he could easily tell. Monsters were known to cannibalize each other if they got in disputes over each other’s territory… but how the bones had ended up here wasn’t the important part.

If there were monsters around – possibly multiple ones, at that –, there had to be humans nearby, or else they’d need to find new hunting ground. Could it be the bandits they were currently looking for? Or were there people actually living in the village they’d just happened upon? And, if so, why hadn’t they left for a safer hiding place already…?

Outlining his reasoning to Daniel and Hosuh, Stephen suggested they head to the village to take a quick look.

“We need more water either way, and we might even be able to snag ourselves a useful tool or two. Besides, if there are really humans living there, they might have seen the people we’re looking for pass by, at least. I’m tired of flying around aimlessly for hours.”

“It hasn’t been aimless,” Daniel argued, but he didn’t seem to be against the idea. “What are we waiting for, then? Let’s go! I want to stretch my legs a bit anyway.”

True; Stephen’s own backside was sore from riding on the bird’s back for so long.

After they'd circled the area enough times to be sure they wouldn't be attacked by creatures in hiding, they decided to land far enough for the undead bird to be obscured by a bunch of trees and bushes, as they didn’t want to unsettle any humans they might end up coming across. The last thing they needed was being chased away on the assumption that they were a threat, and riding in on an undead monster was sure to raise suspicion.

Though there was a chance Stephen’s shady choice of clothing might still attract unwanted negative attention, but, if they were lucky, Hosuh would offset that all on his own.

The village didn’t seem particularly big or densely populated; in fact, Stephen had only counted a few dozen houses. There were plenty of cattle and sheep – way more than a village of this size would require, in his opinion, but, then again, in these times, ample food was a rare sight. They must have been entirely self-sustaining.

As they got closer, a young man came to greet them, a few younglings peering curiously at the newcomers further behind until their parents shooed them away to get back to their chores. The man was covered in freckles from head to toe, with dark, curly hair peeking out from underneath his hat. He was dressed lightly, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows as though he’d been interrupted in the middle of his work, an easygoing smile adorning his outstandingly handsome features.

“Welcome, adventurers!” he opened his arms wide, signifying an invitation for them to enter. “Travellers don’t come by here often, but it’s always nice to meet new people. My name is Joseph,” he held out a hand next, which Daniel was the first to take – without hesitation –, and Hosuh the last, as Stephen had wordlessly declined. “If you’re in need of fresh water or food, we can treat you to a meal or two – and you may also spend the night here if you so desire. We have more than enough beds and blankets to spare.”

Stephen really didn’t like how nice the offer sounded.

“What’s the catch?” he asked before Daniel or Hosuh could get a word in, but Joseph only chuckled.

“There’s no such thing. It’s important to help others in need, is it not? If we have far more than we need, why shouldn’t we share?”

“Some food and water definitely sound great,” Daniel grinned, ignoring Stephen’s silent protests. “We could also use a few supplies if you happened to have spare rope and a dagger or two… and a change of clothes,” he glanced at Hosuh.

“If you talk to the chief, I’m sure all of that can be arranged,” Joseph clasped his hands together. “You should be able to find his house right in the center next to the temple.”

Thanking him for the warm hospitality, Daniel marched off with Hosuh, seemingly content with leaving Stephen behind for now; Stephen didn’t mind in the slightest, as he still had his own reservations, and civil conversations weren’t exactly his forte.

“We’re looking for some bandits,” he cut right to the chase, “so if you happened to see-“

“A group of bandits had passed by a day or so ago, yes. They left after we gave them a meal,” Joseph’s expression settled into something more along the lines of curiosity, and he nonchalantly sat atop one of the shorter fenceposts. “I figured you might be looking for them. Don’t worry; I overheard them say they’d set up camp for a few days not too far from here, so you should be able to catch up to them without any trouble.”

“You _let_ them eat here?” Stephen scoffed, to which Joseph simply shrugged.

“It’s tradition. Besides, they most likely would have just stolen what they wanted, so it was easier to let them have it.”

Stephen’s only response was a grumpy huff.

“I do have a few words that I’d like to have with you three, if possible, however,” Joseph suddenly lowered his voice, to which Stephen raised a brow; he _knew_ there was something off about the overly cheerful attitude, even if he hadn’t been able to quite put his finger on it before. Now that it was just the both of them, though, he could sense a heavy burden weighing Joseph’s shoulders, as though there was something really important troubling him that he couldn’t say so casually in a public conversation. “Especially if you choose to stay overnight…”

“Why?” Stephen cocked his head to the side skeptically. “If you wanted payment or something, you could just ask for that straight out.”

Joseph flashed a reserved smile.

“There are no items you could provide that would solve this, believe me… but you seem quite capable. I would be eternally grateful if you could hear me out.”

_Joseph_ had been the one to offer them shelter and nourishment; Stephen had no reason to want to return the gesture in any way. Despite that, he could sense the desperation behind the other man’s words, and he found himself unable to openly refuse. Maybe he was merely interested in some simple magic that just so happened to be beyond the abilities of a non-practitioner… Maybe they would be rewarded with valuables they wouldn’t be able to obtain otherwise…

He could also let Daniel handle it, if he decided it wasn’t something worth bothering with.

For now, he left Joseph without an answer.


	4. Chapter 4

It was late in the afternoon by the time Stephen ran into Daniel and Hosuh again, as he’d spent quite a while strolling around on his own, having short chats with the locals in hopes that it might lend him some kind of insight into Joseph’s words. He hadn’t had much luck in that regard, but he had started to feel more and more eyes on him whenever he would turn away, which had been unnerving, to say the least.

He also took note of the frightened demeanor of the children around him, although that part was the least surprising; his relaxed expression was still very much tense, with slightly furrowed brows, and he himself was well aware that he seemed like the dangerous kind.

Hosuh and Daniel had been redressed; Daniel had kept his armor and boots, naturally, but he’d abandoned his ripped and dirtied clothes underneath for a clean pair of maroon pants with a beige shirt, while Hosuh wore a peach colored tunic with a belt in the middle.

“I thought you were naked from afar,” was his greeting to Hosuh, to which the shorter man gave him a look of exasperation.

“I’m glad to see you too, Stephen…” he mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Stephen decided to recount Joseph’s words to them, leaving out his own opinions for the time being as he hadn’t yet entirely made up his mind either. He did fully expect Daniel to wish to hear what Joseph had to say, though. Hosuh didn’t seem like he would mind either outcome, which meant his own word had a bit more weight than it would have otherwise. Then again, Daniel’s stubbornness was hard to beat.

They were able to find Joseph in a stable, on his own – it was about time for dinner, so most people must have been getting ready to eat. He was crouched by a young foal, seemingly having just finished cleaning up, reaching out to give the animal a couple pats, as it seemed very insistent on getting his attention. When he saw the three of them arrive, he gestured towards them to follow him outside, and he led them into a nearby shed instead, locking the door behind them to make sure they wouldn’t get any visitors.

Stephen’s eyes flickered towards the single window of the structure, noting down the escape route in case something went awry.

“What did you want to talk to us about, if I may ask?” Hosuh cut right to the chase, his arms patiently folded behind his back. He seemed to have been holding himself with a little more confidence in his new clothes; perhaps they’d given him a sense of familiarity which he’d found relaxing.

Joseph dug his fingers through his hair with a troubled sigh.

“There’s something going on here… I’m not sure how to start without sounding crazy, but-“

“Does it have anything to do with the monsters lurking nearby?” Daniel cut him off, visibly very proud of himself when Joseph had become slightly baffled.

“Yes… How do you know about them?”

“You could say we have enough experience,” Daniel shrugged. Stephen knitted his brows together, restraining the taunt that was about to slip out; he didn’t need to interrupt the flow of the conversation to add a couple snarky remarks when he could save them for later.

Joseph’s gaze glided across the room, settling on the window briefly; his empty stare told Stephen his mind was elsewhere, wandering amongst memories he was about to recall. The more closely Stephen examined him, the more worn out he seemed; the dark circles under his eyes that the bright sun had masked earlier were in full view now, and Stephen realised the haircut he’d mistaken for a mischievous and messy look was actually the result of a nervous tic that resurfaced only when the man let his guard down.

“Every week, these creatures come out at night and take somebody away… Sometimes more than one person, often children, but never any animals…” Joseph swallowed. “I’ve seen them from up close before… They are covered in black scales, with long tails covered in spikes, and their wicked eyes glow in the dark. They walk on all fours, and, at times, they let out these horrifying cries that would keep even the bravest souls alive all night long…”

He lowered his head.

“The first time I noticed, I had assumed the noises to be coming from a wild animal of some sort… but every week they would return without fail. When I had asked the chief about it, he had told me not to worry, as they were being kept at bay, but… people I’d known, people I used to talk to were vanishing one by one, and nobody was willing to say a word about it.”

“Why haven’t you all left this place, then? You have plenty of horses and carriages.”

The remark slipped out before Stephen could stop himself this time around.

“Tradition…” Joseph’s voice cracked.

He buried his face in his hands.

“If you speak up against it, you are chosen next. I don’t know what to do anymore… I can’t just sit by and watch my family and friends be slaughtered one by one, but I’m not a fighter… There isn’t anything I can do on my own.”

He exhaled softly.

“Tonight… is supposed to be time again.”

His words hung heavy in the air; the party had listened without any interruptions once they had understood the gravity of the situation, and now, they all seemed to be deciding how they were going to reply.

Hosuh’s eyes were filled with pity and sorrow, but also hints of empathy, as though he understood; perhaps he'd heard enough confessions in the past to have great insight into other people's pain, or perhaps the past he was still hiding had taken more of a toll on him than Stephen would have guessed. He had no way of knowing.

A tight knot had formed in Stephen’s stomach; if he had been consuming a meal just like the other villagers, he may have brushed it off as mild food poisoning, but, as it was, he had nothing to pin the blame on aside from Joseph’s recollection. His knees felt weak, but his hands were in rigid fists, his nails digging into his palms as primal rage bubbled inside of him.

What these people deserved was no salvation; he pictured a fiery inferno burning their pitiful little village to the ground, hungry beasts ravaging the survivors, tearing them apart limb from limb until they were all dead. He would take in the innocent and the children to shield them from all the destruction, letting the guilty suffer with no remorse…

But he was only one man. In this terrible, cruel world, one man didn’t have the power to rid every human of their suffering… He’d known that since he was a child, ever since those visions of anguish and despair had entered his mind.

What even was the point?

Exhaustion stronger than the previous day’s took over his body, and he allowed his head to rest against the wall, his hood obscuring his face from view… until he heard Daniel take a step forward.

He straightened back up to see him place a hand on Joseph’s shoulder, the other curled into a fist over the left side of his own chest. His voice was firm, and his tone sounded so different from the usual jovial attitude it carried, it was almost unrecognisable.

“I swear to you, I will slay these monsters with my very own hands, and I will not rest until I’ve made sure every single last one of them has perished. Such vile practices will not be tolerated for as long as I have the strength to do something about it.”

Joseph dropped to his knees.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and he stared up at Daniel with a mix of admiration and awe, his lip quivering with unsaid words of gratitude. He must have been in shock; he couldn’t have expected Daniel to make such a promise so easily, without having to beg and plead, without bribery or blackmail.

“T-thank you… so much…” he finally stammered out in a dazed manner.

Daniel lowered himself onto one knee and bowed his head.

“I should be the one to thank you for opening my eyes, my friend. The gods will surely reward you for your honesty and courage.”

He seemed like an entirely different person from the bumbling fool Stephen had grown used to seeing him as.

“He’s speaking the truth,” Hosuh joined in, folding his arms over his chest, murmuring a prayer before he continued. “The gods have given their blessing; you will soon be set free from your shackles, and your worries will cease.”

Whether he was making up a convincing lie to put the man’s mind at ease, or if he really had been sent a sign from the gods, only Hosuh could know for sure – his hardened expression betrayed nothing.

Stephen stayed silent.

* * *

“What did you say all that for?”

Daniel raised a brow quizzically.

“You know what I mean,” Stephen scoffed. “Why did you make all those empty promises?”

“They weren’t empty to me,” Daniel responded simply, as though that much had been obvious from the get-go; one of his hands rested atop the hilt of his sword, his gaze fading into the setting sun.

“You know they’ll just end up finding another way to take advantage of each other…”

“You don’t know that.”

Daniel closed his eyes.

“It’s worth a shot to at least try. Even if things will go back to the way they used to be after a while, as long as I can inspire just one person to stand up for what is right, my ideals will have been passed on.”

Stephen had never enjoyed mushy, sentimental talk.

“You’re unbearable,” he gave Daniel a shove, to which he received a noogie in retaliation once his hood had been yanked down. He protested with a shriek of dismay.

“Yes, yes, we get it, your heart is all shriveled up and pitch black,” Daniel laughed, breaking the tense atmosphere that had still lingered with them long after they’d left the shed. It was astounding how fast he could recover every time, how persistent and almost _overwhelming_ his optimism appeared to be. “Have you ever smiled at someone, Stephen? In a genuine way?”

“I smile at myself every morning when I catch a glimpse of my reflection,” Stephen wrestled himself out of the headlock, tugging on his cloak and hair to undo the damage Daniel had caused, Hosuh observing the other two with a soft, tender look in his eyes.

“You guys get along surprisingly well…”

Their responses came in sync.

“We do not.”

“Thank you.”

Stephen huffed as he stomped off ahead.

* * *

The weather was a tad chilly, which didn’t help much with the goosebumps Hosuh seemed to be getting from the anticipation of what was about to come; he wasn’t sure why he was sticking so closely to Daniel and Stephen, since it wasn’t like he himself could fight, but he clutched the dagger Daniel had gifted him nevertheless just in case. If only he still had his necklace, then there would have been something he was capable of doing to assist them… In this state, at best, he could be a meat shield.

He should have been more careful… He should have prepared better before taking off on his own. The feelings of regret and guilt weighed down his shoulders like layers and layers of iron plates stacked on top of one another, and no matter how much he tried to chase them away by distracting himself, they would return time after time, buzzing around his head in the form of loud, overpowering thoughts.

Why did his own conscience have to be so harsh and brutal?

The night was even darker than usual, thick clouds swimming past the sky one after another, obscuring the light of the moon and the stars, making it extremely difficult to see; if it hadn’t been for the faint glow Stephen’s staff gave off, they may have been sitting around in complete and utter darkness.

A hushed prayer slipped past his lips, and he peered over the rock they were currently hiding behind, lying in wait for the creatures of the night. The village seemed peaceful and quiet; dim light escaped a few windows here and there – presumably belonging to children unwilling to sleep, or adults unable to –, but the only noise Hosuh could hear was the cicadas’ unending chorus, accompanied by an occasional gust of wind.

If he’d been lying under a thick blanket with a warm campfire by his side, he may have found their current situation to be serene and wonderful beyond belief; he wrapped his arms around himself, wishing that Daniel’s encouragement had actually managed to reassure him.

A nagging voice in the back of his head told him never to take these tranquil moments for granted.

As though on cue, he felt Stephen next to him shudder, the cloaked man placing a finger to his lips to signal him to be quiet before Hosuh could inquire about anything. A tiny puff of steam near his staff caught Hosuh’s eye, and he was wondering if Stephen was about to call on his magic before he realised the staff hadn’t been its source; it had only been emitting light to make it easier to see, while the steam itself was actually part of a thick layer of fog which had begun slowly filling up their surroundings. Hosuh could barely see a feet or two from his nose, and he had to remind himself to steady his breathing, a claustrophobic feeling spreading across his entire body. He almost jumped when a hand touched his back, only to understand moments later it was Daniel telling him to relax.

Then… he saw a murky figure pass him by, and he instinctively held his breath.

The creatures must not have had very good eyesight, as Stephen would have been the first one to be targeted otherwise; Hosuh could hear them sniffing the air, however, and a bead of sweat rolled down the back of his neck while he tried his best to determine whether or not the sickeningly sweet smell of the chrysanthemums dotted around them would be able to mask their own scent.

Apparently, it proved to be enough, though he tightly clamped a hand over Stephen’s mouth regardless when it seemed like he was about to let out a high-strung snicker after witnessing one of the creatures sneeze.

There were at least four or five of them from what Hosuh could tell, though he wasn’t going to rely on his observational skills too much when they were at such a disadvantage. He racked his brain for information that might have been useful; he’d had several bulky textbooks’ worth of knowledge beaten into him, so if he could just remember, if he could just think of _something_…

He’d seen monsters like this before, he _knew_ he had…

His eyes went wide.

He couldn’t recall the name of it, but he had indeed stumbled upon a creature _eerily similar_ during one of his lessons; long, lumbering beings that could move surprisingly fast, and possessed an elongated jaw which could easily snap a human’s spine in half. They always hunted in packs; they were essentially blind, but they had an exceptional sense of smell and hearing, and they were followed by a dense, ominous mist wherever they went, able to capture their prey with ease unless it already knew what to expect. They were also…

“Sensitive to high-pitched sounds…” Hosuh whispered by the time the monsters were out of earshot, earning a pair of confused looks his way. He turned to Stephen. “If I’m right, that bird you resurrected might just be what we need.”

“It would take at least half an hour for any of us to get back there, and that’s only if we run the whole way…” Stephen hissed back, clearly not too fond of the plan. “It’ll already be too late. Don’t you have any better ideas?”

“This _is_ our best option,” Hosuh insisted, his mind racing with the possibilities of everything that could go wrong. If he were to die… could he trust Daniel with returning the necklace to his family? The doubts kept piling on and on, and he found himself feeling envious yet again of the ease with which Daniel was capable of charging into action at all times.

Daniel held his chin in his hand for a couple of seconds before he arrived at a conclusion.

“Stephen, you’re the only one here who can actually give the bird orders. You’ll need to bring it here. You _have_ to,” he stared deeply into the other man’s eyes, somehow managing to silence the oncoming retorts Hosuh had sensed gathering inside of him. Daniel had a way of getting people to do his bidding; another trait Hosuh couldn’t find within himself, another reason for him to be jealous…

He swallowed down the bitterness he felt towards Stephen for being so hesitant to take advantage of the chance he was given, the intensity of which surprised even himself; _sitting around and feeling sorry for yourself won’t save anybody_, he warned himself mentally, straightening up before Stephen could provide an answer.

“I will create a distraction that may buy us some time,” he announced, thumb gently sliding over the hilt of the dagger he held. “It may not be much, but I’m afraid that’s all I’m capable of right now.”

He fought down the waves of nausea that threatened to force him to his knees with visions of his own demise, pointedly ignoring the dread that still clung to him with persistence. Daniel was willing to risk his own life without a second thought; if Hosuh had even the slightest chance of being able to measure up to him, he had to be able to do the same.

He steeled himself for what was about to come.

“Please don’t let it be in vain,” were his last words before he took off, witnessing what appeared to be a frustrated Stephen dashing away in the opposite direction thanks to the fog thinning out enough on the edge of the village.

His demeanor softened a little.

* * *

Daniel had no idea what Hosuh was referring to by a ‘distraction’, but he chose to have faith in him as he unsheathed his sword, cautiously following far enough behind him that he lost sight of him completely in mere seconds.

He had no choice but to rely on his hearing and fumble his way around, he supposed. Being able to see so little was frustrating to no end – unnerving, even, considering the creatures themselves hadn’t been making much noise –, but at least he was able to somewhat use the lanterns that were still lit in a couple or so windows as vague landmarks.

It was almost as though he’d found himself in a whole other world that was comprised entirely of clouds and winding paths between buildings made of stone. It was reminiscent of swimming in murky waters, head dunked under the surface only to be met with swirling waves of sand and dirt, blinding one completely for the moment if they’d neglected to squeeze their eyes shut.

He’d been staggering along for gods know how many minutes when he happened upon a small child, almost knocking them over by accident; he whispered an apology, bending down a tad to see them better.

The child seemed to be doing just fine, albeit visibly perturbed, the corners of her mouth pointing downwards in an exaggerated manner, her lower lip jutting out. She wore what Daniel could only assume was a nightgown, her hair in a loose, messy braid, as though she’d been plucked out of bed moments ago to be placed in this spot. She was hugging a clumsily sewn doll to her chest, no doubt her own making.

Daniel knelt down, keeping his voice low.

“Hello there, little one. Are you lost?”

The girl nodded with tears welling up in her eyes, though keeping enough distance from Daniel to let him know she didn’t trust him entirely yet. She hunched over her doll protectively, like she was afraid he would tear it from her hands.

“There, there, everything is going to be fine…” Daniel extended a hand to her carefully, not wanting to scare her away. “Just come with me, and I’ll take you right to your mom.”

His words that were meant to sound reassuring must have triggered something in the child, as tears began streaming from her eyes, and the first sounds of what would definitely turn into a full-blown outburst came out.

Daniel’s heart skipped a beat, his pulse soon hammering right in his ears from panic.

“No, no, no, it’s okay-“

But the little girl’s cries only got louder.

Not willing to take his chances with quieting her down again, Daniel proceeded to scoop her up in one arm, hopping onto a fencepost just in time to dodge an array of fangs, followed by a large, scaly body.

He didn’t pause to check if these monsters could climb.

His sword was back in its sheath, and he used the nearest windowsill within reach to hoist himself to the rooftop, the girl he was carrying having gone mute from shock; he placed her down next to the chimney, instructing her not to move from there.

“And don’t make a single noise,” he added before rushing along the tiles and sliding towards the edge to check on the monster he’d left behind; it didn’t seem to be capable of climbing, but it _was_ still waiting for him right where he’d left it, pacing around in the same spot impatiently, its tail repeatedly whipping the ground. Daniel took a deep breath before he leapt down, landing right on the creature’s back and driving the sword straight through its torso…

Or that was his original plan anyway, before he learned the hard way that not even his trusty weapon would be able to penetrate the tough, resilient layer over the skin easily.

His blade may have made a small scratch before it slid right off, sending him tumbling to the ground face first, the creature fortunately dazed enough by the attempted assault not to immediately pounce on him and give him just enough time to get to his feet again.

He swore.

Hosuh hadn’t told him about _this._

A claw grazed his leg when he jumped to the side to avoid the monster once again, and the burning sensation present afterwards let him know it had drawn blood. Even without this ridiculous fog, he was at a massive disadvantage… Was there a point that he could strike where the shell wouldn’t be able to provide protection?

He wouldn’t be able to tell unless he could get a better look…

For now, he hauled himself onto a rooftop for the second time – or he would have, had he not gotten yanked right back by one of his legs and thrown onto the ground like a ragdoll. Blood trickled down his thigh; leather would only be able to shield him from so much.

He knew he wouldn’t have enough time to stand; he chose to roll out of the way before he crawled into a narrow space between two particularly closely built houses, breathing a sigh of relief as the monster fruitlessly attempted to fit its jaw though, though wincing right away at the sharp sound its scales made as they scratched against the stone. If its buddies hadn’t been alerted before, they had to have been now.

All of a sudden, however, he took notice of a blurry, orange shape flying by, and he hurriedly clambered to his feet, using the walls to support himself; the light had cut through the fog clean and sharp, like knife slicing through butter, and "his line of sight had become unobstructed just as unexpectedly as it had been clouded by the fog earlier.

As far as he could see, the village was bathed in the same shade; _enchanted flames_, he realised, eyes widening when he spotted Hosuh standing atop the temple, a beautiful scarf with intricate patterns of flames draped over his shoulders, chanting restlessly, Joseph standing a couple feet behind him with a now extinguished lantern in his hand. The latter seemed to be gazing in awe as well; it took Daniel a second or two to recognise that his own mouth was agape.

Hosuh must have stolen a relic held within the temple itself; he was clearly having difficulty keeping the fire under control, but he was doing his best to keep it away from the houses themselves, focusing on merely getting rid of the fog. While the monsters didn’t appear to be harmed by the flames, Daniel could now see that they had come to a halt, perhaps hesitating about whether or not it would be worth it to continue hunting for fresh meat.

This was honestly less of a distraction and more of a straightforward helping hand, but Daniel wasn’t about to complain about that.

In the light that now encircled the entire plaza, the creatures’ naked necks were in plain sight, previously obscured by the shadows their thick scales had created. It would still be tough to defeat them one-on-one, but if he could aim for that while they were still caught off-guard…

He lunged forward, emerging from his hiding spot before any of them could make a move, driving his sword straight through the narrow, fleshy gap on the nearest monster’s neck, making sure the blade had really gone through it this time before yanking it out, spraying violet blood everywhere. The monster roared as it collapsed with a deafening _thud_.

All four of the rest turned to face Daniel at the same time, and his posture tensed as he readied himself to run, but, instead of rushing at him at once, the monsters jaws’ snapped wide open, letting loose a thundering chorus that forced Daniel to his knees, his vision blacking out for a full second, dizziness overtaking him completely.

Ears painfully ringing, he grit his teeth as he attempted to push himself up, colorful spots swimming in his vision; he felt as though someone had bashed him over the head with a hammer repeatedly until his skull had cracked open.

The monsters had flown into a rage.

None of them were targeting Daniel anymore; they were, instead, wildly rampaging through the village, breaking down doors and smashing furniture and equipment to pieces. Screams of terror began filling the air, and Daniel’s heart dropped so low it may very well have been crushed by the tightening of his stomach.

As soon as he was capable of moving again, Daniel broke into a run, vision filled with red.

He wasn’t sure if he was being fuelled by anger or fear, but it didn’t matter to him – his body moved on its own, overtaken by his instincts completely, his blade slicing and swinging tirelessly. He barely even registered when his side was cut right open, his clothes soaking up both his own blood, that of the monsters, and their victims.

There was only one thing on his mind: the promise he had made to Joseph, echoing in his head over and over, and his throat burned alongside his chest from incomprehensible, animalistic cries.

Fingers curled around his forearm – distinctly _human_ ones, belonging to a familiar hand covered in freckles, and his voice was caught in his throat when he met Joseph’s eyes, unable to think coherent thoughts. Joseph was yelling something, but whatever it was, it didn’t make it to Daniel’s ears; all he was able to do was follow the direction he was pointing in to witness a large, undead bird in the sky, a cloaked figure riding on its back, its beak opening up.

The shrill screech that came next caused Daniel to black out once again, his sword falling from his hands.

* * *

“_Experience,_ yeah, right…”

The voice dragged him back to reality, and Daniel awoke to see Stephen peering down at him from above, safe and sound apart from the dark purple bruise decorating his right cheek. Daniel blinked, and Stephen said something else that he couldn’t quite make out before he felt a pair of arms hoist him into a sitting position by the armpits.

“What… happened…?” he croaked out, wincing at the pain that followed; Hosuh shushed him as he helped him sip water from a flask, his lip split open, caked in bits of dried blood.

“We got kicked out… or chased away, whichever sounds more appropriate,” Stephen grumbled, sitting cross-legged; they seemed to be in a small cave of some sort, hidden from view by tall grass, the night sky visible in bits and pieces outside. “We shielded you as best we could, but they did a number on us as well, as you can tell. So much for being heroes, right…”

“The monsters were dead as soon as Stephen arrived,” Hosuh spoke up, sending Stephen a warning look to which the other man shrugged. “Their heads were blown to bits and pieces instantly.”

Daniel’s face scrunched up in disgust from the gross image the description conjured up in his mind.

“The villagers said it was our fault for angering them, so we carried you off as fast as possible. Well… I did; Stephen held onto your sword.”

“What, would you have preferred it if I had dragged him off with my teeth?” Stephen huffed. “Need I remind you I still only have one working arm?”

“Wow, Hosuh… You’re stronger than you look…” Daniel blurted out his first thought, head spinning with all these new developments. Hosuh bashfully bowed his head.

“They tore Stephen’s bird apart, sadly, so we’ll just have to walk from now on… but, on the bright side,” he hurried to continue, “Joseph did also come by earlier to thank us properly. You were, uhm… not in a state to be disturbed anytime soon, but he told us to let you know he’s really grateful for everything, and… for you to not beat yourself up too much.”

His last memories before he’d passed out flooded back all at once, and Hosuh didn’t stop him from flopping back down onto his back, the impact softened by the blanket he’d been laid on top of.

Was Hosuh only saying that to make him feel better, or was he being honest? He had no idea how many people had died, but… was their blood not on his hands for failing to protect them?

Then again, what else could he have done? Should he have… simply waited for Stephen? Should he have just cowered and watched, throwing dignity and honor aside completely…? Maybe if he’d done that, all those people would still be…

He fought the urge to slam his head into the nearest wall, composing himself on the outside at the very least so he could converse with his companions calmly.

“How long was I out…?”

“A day, more or less…” replied Hosuh, straightening his back; his legs were folded underneath him, his hands resting in his lap. He gave off an aura of stability and patience; if Daniel didn’t wish for him to, he wouldn’t lay a comforting hand on him, which Daniel found to appreciate, certain that the bitterness inside himself would only grow worse from such a gesture.

This was the first time he’d made such a major mistake, and he hadn’t the slightest clue what to do with himself, or with the pent-up frustration and sorrow duking it out in his chest.

“Oh, before I forget… Joseph also gave me this,” Hosuh lifted a hand to his neck; Daniel only noticed the thin, golden chain wrapped around it now. “He described it as… a magical item of some sort, to be used in great need. Apparently once it’s bonded to you, it won’t be able to leave your side. It’s powerful enough to knock you unconscious, but it might come in handy later… once I’ve figured out what it does.”

He sounded a little embarrassed at the last part, and the conversation died down with a soft chuckle from Hosuh before a thick, somewhat uncomfortable silence spread through the cave. Perhaps the others didn’t know what to do with themselves either when Daniel wasn’t beckoning them towards a specific goal.

Daniel closed his eyes briefly, calling upon the very same determination he’d relied on when he’d left for his quest.

“I see… Thank you, Hosuh. For… everything.”

“Don’t say it like you’re about to die,” Hosuh chided him gently, a small, but warm smile making its way onto his features. “Between the two of us, Stephen was seriously worried about you, you know.”

“Even though I’m just a reckless adventurer you’d met a few weeks ago?” Daniel let out a dry laugh, and Stephen averted his gaze momentarily, his retort lacking in its usual bite.

“I let myself be punched in your stead; I think I’ve made it clear where I stand, you knucklehead. Now get some rest so we can get going in the morning before Hosuh’s stupid necklace is gone forever.”

Daniel suddenly felt like he wanted to cry; after everything, was Stephen’s change in attitude really what was going to get him to break down? He’d been sure Stephen would want nothing to do with him after Daniel had made him go through so much, but… he hadn’t left. In fact, he’d made it sound like he had every intention of accompanying him and Hosuh… unlike what his mannerisms had told Daniel before.

What had been the cause behind his change of heart…? Unfortunately, Daniel had no way of reading his mind. Still, the knowledge that something, _anything_ had caused him to go along with the plan he’d berated Daniel for every time he’d brought it up made it seem equal to a downright confession of some kind.

“I’ve already slept for a full day, apparently,” Daniel’s voice cracked.

Stephen threw a piece of bread at his head.


	5. Chapter 5

The rising sun wasn’t enough to warm their surroundings just yet, but it did provide a stunning view for Stephen to wake up to, especially with all the droplets of dew that clung to the grass and leaves, creating a translucent, almost invisible rainbow. The sky had cleared up entirely, colored in shades of azure blue, golden yellow and crimson red.

Unable to sleep any longer, Stephen sat down on a rock not far from the cave’s entrance, not minding the way some of the moisture seeped into his cloak in the process; even though he’d had plenty of time to sort out his own emotions, it still didn’t feel like it had been enough… and even though the peace and quiet that was present in Daniel’s absence had been quite needed, he’d left behind an empty hole of some sort, whose existence Stephen couldn’t have been more aware of.

Still, Hosuh had reminded him several times not to disturb him while he was still recovering, so Stephen had to make do with conjuring up his own version of Daniel in his head, carrying on imaginary heated arguments like that.

But it wasn’t the same.

Even after Daniel’s question – _especially_ after his question –, he found himself wondering what had been the cause behind the sense of attachment he’d started to feel, even though he also _knew_ the answer already himself. He’d been touched by Daniel’s ridiculous gestures of virtue and honor… he’d been moved by his willingness to put himself in danger to protect others, and his insistence to fight for what he believed to be just.

He felt like a child admiring a hero of ancient folktales, but no matter how much he tried to push these thoughts aside, they’d persist; in fact, they’d only strengthened after he’d seen the burning conviction in Daniel’s eyes the previous night, letting him know that despite all the guilt and pain he must have been going through, he wasn’t going to give up.

It was something Stephen might have been able to understand a long time ago – before he’d decided to become a necromancer, perhaps… As it was, however, the sentiment was odd, and… _foreign._

He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but Hosuh had joined him outside at some point, fidgeting with a long blade of grass in his hand. _You’re going to cut yourself by accident_, Stephen wanted to snarkily remark, but instead, he slid back onto the ground, stretching his back.

“Your necklace must be worth a lot if you’re willing to go this far to get it back.”

Hosuh’s gaze was far off in the distance as he began chewing the end of the grass like some kind of rabbit – another nervous tic? –, taking longer to answer than Stephen would have expected.

“It’s not its monetary value that matters… It’s an important family heirloom. It would bring great misfortune upon my family if I was unable to recover it…”

“And yet you took it with you on a quest all by yourself?” Stephen raised a brow; Hosuh shielded himself from the look of judgement by turning his head away.

“Yes, I know, it was my fault for being so careless.”

He glanced back in Stephen’s direction briefly before he got back up on his feet.

“You know, Stephen, sometimes people don’t end up doing the most logical things. And I was… scared,” he spoke softly, letting the blade of grass he’d been playing with flutter away.

With that, he left Stephen be, presumably to check up on Daniel.

How he was capable of expressing such vulnerability to a practical stranger, Stephen found incomprehensible. It seemed like he was surrounded by oddballs at every turn.

When Daniel finally emerged, his skin had regained most of its color, though his bruises hadn’t gotten much better yet; he looked like he’d been battered in a dark alleyway by a group of thugs, and he could have really used a bath in more ways than one. His eyes were a tad puffy and bloodshot, and Stephen, graciously allowing him to keep whatever tiny dignity he had left, chose to comment on his odor instead.

“You reek,” he wrinkled his nose; Daniel frowned in response as he discreetly sniffed his own clothes. “Like a wet dog that’s been rolling around in mud all day…”

“You’re not much better yourself, Stephen,” Hosuh sighed, stepping out of the cave for good this time around, Daniel’s bag hanging off his shoulder; he must have insisted on carrying it for Daniel until he was sure he could handle the weight with no trouble, since Daniel stubbornly held onto his sword, even though Stephen was very certain he wouldn’t be able to use it effectively with his injuries still fresh and all that.

Hopefully Hosuh hadn’t been lying about his necklace’s healing abilities

“It’s not that bad-“ Daniel argued – unclear whether or not he was referring to himself, Stephen, or both –, but he didn’t insist on the subject for much longer, instead turning to Hosuh for guidance. “You know the way we should be going, right?”

Hosuh nodded.

“We should have stolen a horse while we still had the chance…” Stephen grumbled, bracing himself for the long journey that was about to come; he was suddenly reminded of the recent, and yet strangely distant times he’d spent traversing those dark tunnels with Daniel, and he shuddered as he pictured how sore his feet would be by the end.

Perhaps when Daniel was in better shape, Stephen could guilt him into carrying him on his back as well.

* * *

Fortunately, the bandits either hadn’t been worried about being ambushed themselves, or they simply took great pleasure in passing time by playing cards and downing alcohol in the middle of nowhere, as it only took the trio about three days of persistent hiking to spot their camp in the distance, the smoke of their campfire giving their location away.

Granted, those three days had been a tad rough on some more than others – Stephen had been referring to their travelling as excruciating, Hosuh’s cooking being possibly the only element of it keeping him from going mad –, but they, at least, had given Daniel’s heart some much-needed rest. Stephen and Hosuh’s presence had become a reassurance to the point where he could crack jokes comfortably between them, able to pretend as though everything was fine, as though he wasn’t still incredibly distraught.

If he had been just a little more selfish, he might have been able to bring himself to run away somewhere with them both, enjoying fun adventures together like the make-believe ones he’d performed as a child. In truth, he wouldn’t have blamed anyone for choosing that option instead of what had been weighing on his mind, but he knew all too well that he wouldn’t be able to find it in himself to abandon the purpose that had kept him going these past years.

When he’d dreamed of being a hero as a kid, the road leading to it had seemed much more glamorous.

In any case, Hosuh had warned them not to get too close without a plan, which none of the other two disagreed with, only observing the gang of bandits from a safe distance, behind a cluster of trees and rocks. There were maybe about a dozen or so of them at most, lounging around like they had all the time in the world and no care whatsoever, some of them even asleep in the middle of the day.

Even Stephen seemed unimpressed.

There was a good chance they might be able to sneak into their camp during nighttime, with how much liquor they seemed to be consuming. They must have obtained it from Joseph’s village – it may have been their reason behind celebrating by sticking around for a while. Hosuh must have been thinking the same thing, as he addressed Daniel and Stephen a couple moments later.

“We should wait until they’re all asleep; we might be able to go unnoticed if we’re careful enough.”

“Would all of us even need to go…?” Stephen sat down in the grass, cross-legged, expression flat. “We’re trying to steal a necklace; one person should be plenty. We’d just be increasing our chances of getting caught otherwise. And Hosuh is the only one who knows what it looks like, is he not? I say we let him handle it.”

“…That’s fair,” Hosuh let out a small, awkward cough, Stephen’s eyes lingering on him much longer than they usually would have; Daniel glanced between the two, unsure of what to think about the odd atmosphere between them.

“Stephen has a point,” he ignored the smug smirk that the man in question donned straight away, “but I don’t think leaving Hosuh completely on his own is a good idea. Stephen and I should be hiding nearby as backup in case something goes wrong.”

“Daniel does not speak for Stephen,” Stephen countered, but he ended up shrugging his shoulders a mere second later. “Fine, I’ll keep an eye out so you can throw Hosuh over your shoulder and rush out of there when the plan inevitably blows up.”

“I really wish you weren’t so positive all the time,” Daniel rolled his eyes lightly at the dramatic phrasing, though he did make a mental note to search for possible routes of escape once they’d gotten close enough to make out everything properly.

Now, the only thing left to do was wait.

* * *

By the time night fell, the camp had indeed gone quiet; a single lantern stayed lit right in the center, its light flickering periodically, as though the slightest breeze could have blown it out. Hosuh emerged from behind one of the tents, jumpy and skittish, snapping to attention whenever he heard someone shuffle or snore. The tents were set up in a circle for the most part, small knickknacks scattered around between them, Hosuh having to take careful, calculated steps to avoid crashing into anything.

Where could they have been keeping the necklace? Surely he wouldn’t have to look inside the tents, would he? The thought sent a shiver down his spine. He crept towards the lantern so he could see a bit better, wondering if he may have already passed it without realising until he spotted something shiny in the grass below, the flames reflecting off of it.

It was a tiny locket in the shape of the moon, a silver chain attached to it, with engravings minuscule enough that one would have to hold it inches from their eye to be able to decipher them. The first emotion coursing through Hosuh’s body was relief, and the next, anger; he bent down to pick the necklace up before gingerly examining it in his hands, silent outbursts fighting for attention in his mind from how poorly it had been treated. They were lucky they hadn’t damaged it, or he would have most definitely broken his vow of never laying a hand on another human being if it didn’t qualify as self-defense.

He placed the necklace back on, obscuring the locket with the help of his tunic, the metal leaving a cold trail across his neck and collar. Perhaps he’d been unnecessarily worried; so far, everything had gone alright… _more_ than alright, actually. He would have to thank Daniel and Stephen for their services later. He had promised them healing, had he not?

But… what about after that? Hosuh recalled the deal they had made; if they could assist him in retrieving the item, he would mend their injuries, and… that would be that. They would part ways; Daniel and Stephen would resume their quest, and Hosuh would…

He had no idea what he was supposed to do, or if he was even supposed to be heading anywhere.

He had nowhere to go, and nowhere to return to; he was completely and utterly aimless.

The thought left an empty void in his stomach.

He backed out of the light bit by bit, taking the same route as before, a different, but just as heavy burden weighing him down, and he was about to signal Daniel and Stephen when he found himself face-to-face with a stranger who had seemingly materialized in front of him out of thin air.

“What are you up to?”

Hosuh froze in a panic, gaze fixated on the man; he was a tad taller than him, and that, in combination with the cold, calculating aura he gave off was enough for Hosuh to feel intimidated. His blond hair was a mess, but rather than Stephen’s resemblance to a wild beast, it lent him a sort of carefree appearance that was more akin to Daniel’s. His lips were curled into a subdued smile, in sharp contrast with his narrow, snake-like eyes.

Despite the casual tone of the question – or maybe _because_ of it –, Hosuh struggled to figure out how to react. Was he with the bandits as well? Hosuh hadn’t seen him the last time they’d crossed paths, though…

When Hosuh attempted to wordlessly walk past him, the stranger stepped to the side to block his way once again in a manner that was almost childlike. Hosuh found himself stammering out a response.

“I’m… not doing anything, really…”

“You were creeping around like some sort of phantom,” the stranger tilted his head slightly; his clothes all bore dull, dark colors, possibly explaining how Hosuh had failed to spot him sooner. “Then again, you seem a bit too fidgety for that… I guess you must be a regular person, then.”

While his mannerisms were completely relaxed, his way of speaking was also somewhat stilted; it reminded Hosuh of the stories about shapeshifting fairies he’d been told as a child that would fail to imitate humans perfectly whenever they would try to masquerade as them. Fairies weren’t real, though, so he must have just been a _regular human_.

“Could you please let me pass?”

Stephen would have surely smacked him for that, but Hosuh had a knack for turning to the most obvious solutions at hand, even if they were unlikely to work out. The stranger seemed amused by the request.

“I’m on guard duty right now, actually, so I don’t think I’m supposed to do that. Then again, if you think you could convince me, I might end up not minding turning a blind eye.”

Hosuh stiffened. What did he have on him that he could use as a bribe? He wasn’t going to part with his necklace again, but the rest of his belongings were still with Daniel, save for…

He reached for the dagger hanging from his belt and held it out in an uncertain manner; the stranger shook his head.

“I already have a dozen of my own; you can keep that.”

For a moment, Hosuh thought he was about to lift his shirt up and showcase a collection of knives strapped to his body, or something equally ridiculous as that, but he simply slipped his hands into his pockets.

After he'd be frozen in anxious deliberation for a short while, Hosuh finally made one last, desperate offer: the only thing left he could think of that could be of use to somebody.

“I can… heal injuries, so if you’re hurt anywhere…”

His voice trailed off when he received another ‘no’ just a couple words in, and his shoulders sank.

His heart then immediately skipped a beat, as the blade of a sword brushed right past his head.

Hosuh whipped around instinctively, his own weapon still gripped in his hand, only to be met with a positively _deranged_ Stephen, who had somehow gotten hold of Daniel’s sword and had swung it at the stranger. Daniel wasn’t far behind – Stephen’s staff in his own arms –, and he must’ve figured the commotion Stephen was causing would be enough to wake anyone on its own, as he let out a cry of warning.

“STEPHEN, STOP!”

The stranger hadn’t even been grazed, though that wasn’t much of a surprise given Stephen’s clumsy movements; he clearly hadn’t fought with a sword before, much less with one of this size and weight, and only able to wield it one-handed. Despite that, he sliced at the stranger over and over again, shoving Hosuh aside quite roughly, who knocked over Daniel in the process, causing both of them to end up splayed out on the ground.

The stranger didn’t even bother to take seriously any of Stephen’s attacks, able to easily dodge them with minimal movements, which must have only enraged Stephen further, as he swore between every second breath.

Daniel scrambled to his feet.

“What’s wrong with Stephen!?” Hosuh questioned, in shock, as Daniel leapt at Stephen and attempted to hold him down, or, at least get him to drop the sword.

“I have no idea-“ Stephen’s elbow connected with his jaw, and a thin stream of blood trickled down his chin a moment later. Daniel winced. “We got worried so we followed you closer-“ he received a kick to the shin, and he let a curse slip himself. “He took my sword and rushed off without saying anything!”

_Of course he had._

Having had enough of receiving bruises and bumps from Stephen, Daniel let go of him to give his cloak a hard yank instead, sending him staggering backwards on unsteady legs, quickly moving between him and the stranger he was so intent on wounding; unfortunately Stephen had been in the middle of another unbalanced strike, and a splash of blood coated the surrounding grass a deep shade of red as Stephen slashed Daniel’s torso open.

The armor had softened the hit a little, but the damage had been done; the cut was gushing blood like crazy, and Daniel swayed from side to side ever so slightly, expression wide-eyed and bewildered, like he couldn’t quite believe what had just happened. The sword tumbled to the ground, Stephen himself clearly stunned by what he’d done, paling enough for it to be visible even in the dim light, but before he could utter a single word, the stranger had him pinned down and hissing in pain, his movements fast enough to be missed with a single blink.

“You called yourself a healer, did you not?”

It took Hosuh a second or two to realise the stranger was addressing_ him._

_“What are you waiting for, then?”_

That was the only push Hosuh needed.

He clasped his hands together, beginning to rapidly murmur a chant he’d repeated enough times in the past to be able to recall it in his sleep; the locket hanging from his neck stirred, giving off a faint glow when it snapped open. Even though he hadn’t performed the spell in what felt like ages, he had no trouble focusing the energy on where it needed to be; if anything, the overwhelming amount of reassurance it had lent him had provided him a stronger sensation of being grounded than before, his confidence and composure both returning bit by bit.

The bleeding stopped in seconds, and Daniel’s face was filled with wonder and amazement as he observed the way his wound slowly closed, not leaving a single drop of blood behind. His bruises gradually faded to a pale green before they disappeared completely, and Hosuh’s knees trembled by the effort it had taken to heal him completely. _Not yet_; he stubbornly kept on going.

He’d almost forgotten how draining the process would be.

Stephen, having given up on struggling, lay motionlessly beneath the stranger as his own body was being repaired; his heavy, but steady breathing, let Hosuh know that despite all the harm he must’ve done to his arm with all of his thrashing around, it could still be fixed.

Hosuh didn't stop until Stephen had recovered fully, after which he was barely able to muster up enough strength to patch himself up a bit as well before collapsing unceremoniously, his vision blurry, his head pounding from having overexerted himself. All the blood rushing through his ears had left him effectively deaf momentarily, and he could vaguely register Daniel’s arms around him, leaving him with the comforting knowledge that he’d succeeded.

His eyes fluttered closed on their own, his consciousness fading into what would become a deep, dreamless sleep he’d experienced a couple times in his life after similar developments, and he breathed a soft sigh, wishing that he could at least wake up in a proper bed.


	6. Chapter 6

The light of the moon shone down at them, coating everything in a pale blue, the lantern having finally gone out at some point. Daniel and his two other companions were currently tied to a tree – including the unconscious Hosuh, even though he very obviously wasn’t going to be much of a threat. Their weapons lay a few feet away in the grass, far enough to be frustratingly out of reach – thankfully Daniel had managed to keep his ring, if nothing else.

All in all, they seemed to be in quite the predicament.

They’d been captured shortly after Hosuh had passed out, as Stephen’s antics had been loud enough to wake a few more of the bandits, and Daniel wasn’t about to flee on his own to leave his buddies behind. The bandits couldn’t have been that concerned as most of them had apparently gone back to sleep in a couple minutes when they’d made sure the three outsiders weren’t going anywhere.

The blond stranger had been the only one left, along with who appeared to be the leader; a tall, broad-shouldered man with a leather vest and poofy pants tucked into thick-soled boots, old scars visible on both his face and exposed arms. His arms were crossed over his chest as he leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree, regarding the blond stranger with a look of amusement.

“You sure you know these guys, Jay? They don’t seem like your type of crowd.”

The blond stranger nodded; Daniel couldn’t tell if he was lying or not, considering the way Stephen had attacked him did indeed imply they had some kind of shared history, but he himself had never seen him before – or as far as he could remember anyway, and he seemed eccentric enough that he would’ve definitely stuck out in his mind if they’d met in the past.

“Sure I do. Sometimes you find friends in the unlikeliest of places, you know?”

“Didn’t we rob that kid a while back?”

“You might’ve,” Jay shrugged. “I don’t think I was around back then.”

He received a few smacks on the back that were clearly intended to be friendly, and he stood by as a call of _‘Puffin!’_ sounded from one of the tents, inviting their leader to return.

“If they’re your friends, you won’t have any problems with keeping an eye on them, eh?”

And with that, Jay was left on his own, though he didn’t seem like he cared all that much; he must have gotten picked up by these guys somewhere recently, just going with the flow all this time upon having nothing better to do. Did Daniel stand a chance at convincing him to let them go? He _had_ let Hosuh talk to him for quite a while when he got caught…

Before that, though…

“Stephen,” Daniel turned to the man on his left as best he could in his current position, “are you going to explain yourself?”

Stephen hadn’t said a word since he’d slashed Daniel open, which was understandable, but Daniel himself had been far more confused than upset, as he’d gotten to know Stephen as someone overly cautious and wary, and not the kind of person who would impulsively rush into something like that. Besides, with this, they had sort of become even given all the trouble he himself caused them in the village prior… he supposed.

Stephen had been stubbornly facing the other way, so Daniel hadn’t been able to get a good look at his face until now, but when he caught a glimpse of the intense flurry of emotions behind his dark glare, he was admittedly somewhat startled. He hadn’t seen genuine hatred of that level radiating from somebody towards another human being in a very, very long time.

“I don’t know, Dan, why don’t you ask your _friend_ since he apparently knows you so well?”

“He was clearly lying, come on-“ Daniel’s expression shifted to one of incredulousness. “What the hell happened to you, man?”

Stephen gritted his teeth, the next few words that left his mouth sending a chill down Daniel’s spine.

“The _bastard_ murdered my family… You should’ve let me kill him on the spot. He deserves nothing less.”

His tone appeared calmer than before, but the powerful, raw rage boiling underneath it was palpable; silence fell on the group, Daniel almost feeling suffocated by it, his voice stuck in his throat. Should he have expected such a confession? True, something like that would have been reason enough for many of Stephen’s actions, not just his attempted assault; Daniel was suddenly back to feeling like he was meeting Stephen for the first time, like he was a complete stranger once again.

What… _did_ he know about Stephen? He enjoyed delicious food, like most people, he often threw around empty threats, and he always seemed to have a spell up his sleeve that would get them out of any sort of trouble. Aside from that, though… Stephen hadn’t mentioned anything about his past, not even once. Daniel had no idea if he’d had any siblings or friends, where he had grown up, what his life had been like before they’d crossed paths; Daniel himself hadn’t shared his entire life story either, but he’d dropped a couple sentences here and there, had he not…?

Stephen must have sensed his apprehension, as he actually put in some effort this time to soften his voice – it didn’t really work, but the sentiment hadn’t gone unnoticed, and Daniel swallowed the apology he’d been about to blurt out.

“It happened on the same day the Gate was opened. I had… hid with my siblings from the monster that had rampaged through the village,” he lowered his head; his shoulders were tense, as though recalling the memories still brought him pain. “Mom found us later. We were going to hide underground… I ran ahead to make sure it was safe, but by the time I got back…”

Daniel could see his hands curling into tight, shaking fists.

“My mother was lying on top of them. She’d been protecting them until her last moments. They were all soaked in blood. I… hid, so the killer never saw me, but… I got a very good look at him in those moments.”

He closed his eyes.

“I guarantee you, I would not have been able to forget his face. It’s burned into my memory, vivid as a painting… I would recognise him anywhere.”

At some point, Daniel’s gaze had shifted to Jay, who seemingly listened to Stephen’s recollection without a single objection or interruption on his behalf, taking it in with an expression completely unreadable. Daniel couldn’t imagine Stephen would have had a reason to lie – nor did he want to consider the option, as he’d grown quite fond of him in the short time they’d spent together, both willing and wanting to have faith in his words. Despite that, though… Jay didn’t seem significantly older than either of them – in fact, he seemed to be about the same age.

If Stephen really was telling the truth, that would have made Jay-

“I remember that.”

Stephen’s head snapped in Jay’s direction.

“I remember that day,” Jay repeated, tone very matter-of-fact. The casual smile he’d been wearing previously was nowhere to be found, but Daniel also couldn’t sense anything else that might have replaced it; no animosity, no regret, no joy, no pride. He spoke as though he was recounting a story he’d been told by someone else, or a tale he’d read in a book a long time ago. “I was assigned to leave no survivors. They said it would be too much risk. But when I returned, they told me I had failed. The target had already carried out his plans, so it was too late to do anything about it. That was the last mission I was ever sent on. They said there was nothing left for me to do.”

_Mission…?_

Each syllable Stephen then uttered was dripping with poison.

“What are you talking about?” he narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by target?”

Jay seemed to take a moment to think about his answer.

“I was hired to dispose of a mage and his family. They did not tell me why until I was back,” he cocked his head to the side slightly. “He had been planning on opening a gate to the realm of ancient, powerful beasts to harness their power. I had been tasked with preventing that.”

Daniel’s eyes widened.

“By gate, you don’t mean…?”

Jay nodded, a thin smile finally creeping its way onto his features as he extended an arm to point out the mark of the Gate in the sky.

An incomprehensible mumble from Stephen’s way caused Daniel to flinch before he realised, that, puzzlingly, his demeanor had actually changed for a few moments. His emotions couldn’t have been more transparent; a mix of shock and… recognition, as though the information hadn’t come completely out of nowhere.

As though he’d already had an idea himself, and had only become able to see the whole picture at this very moment.

“_I knew it… It was him after all…_”

His face soon contorted as he let loose a rather lengthy collection of curses.

“Gods, that’s… I can’t even… _I’m so…_”

His shoulders collapsed in a defeated manner.

“Did… you know about that, Stephen?” Daniel inquired carefully, to which Stephen clicked his tongue.

“I had a feeling… The timing of everything had been too… convenient. And I’d seen the kind of things he’d been researching.”

He smacked the back of his own head into the trunk out of sheer frustration.

“_Dammit…!_”

Daniel didn’t know what to say.

All these revelations had come out of nowhere for him, and Stephen was in a state where Daniel wasn’t sure whether or not anything he’d say could set him off. Hosuh might have been able to handle the situation better, but asking him wasn’t an option as he was still very much out cold, and he didn’t seem like he’d be waking up anytime soon.

His head was spinning with the countless possible options to take and outcomes that might follow, and he was about to let out a sigh when something he’d nearly forgotten to question popped into his head.

“Wait…” he stared up at Jay with his brows furrowed in confusion, “why did you say you knew us if you didn’t actually know who Stephen was?”

“I figured things would blow over easier,” Jay shrugged, glancing at the tents around them. “I don’t like unnecessary commotion.”

“That’s rich, coming from you…” Stephen hissed; Daniel, however, continued to pry.

“Why did you tell Hosuh to heal me and Stephen? Why did you even let him in the first place…?”

Jay must have been an assassin; even Daniel was able to put that much together on his own. In that case, what reason could he have had for going out of his way to spare them? The actions Daniel had personally witnessed him perform were in great conflict with the anecdote he’d been given, creating two, completely separate images of the man in his head, each of them wrestling restlessly for dominance.

“I don’t like blood.”

Of every possible answer he could have given, that was about the _last_ response Daniel would have expected.

He figured if things were already getting so ridiculous, he could maybe push his luck further.

“Hey, if you don’t like trouble, could you just let us go?” he asked, albeit he wasn’t sure if Stephen would be able to keep himself from attempting to strangle the guy or something as soon as his hands were free again.

Jay seemed surprised by the request.

“Why?” he blinked, seemingly letting his guard down a tad, though involuntarily; he gestured at their surroundings. “There’s plenty of food and protection; you’d be more than comfortable if you stuck around. Not like Puffin will kill you.”

“There’s something really important that we have to do,” Daniel insisted; suddenly, he felt a little more confident, having found what appeared to be a crack in the man’s defense for the first time. “We really can’t afford to stay here-“

“What is it that’s so important to you?” Jay cut him off, visibly curious enough about the answer to wish to bypass Daniel’s long-winded excuses.

Daniel pursed his lips before he replied.

“We want to close the Gate.”

Jay’s gaze flickered from spot to spot until it finally settled on Stephen.

“Even though his father is the one who had opened it in the first place…?”

“What does that matter?” Daniel was quick to counter with another question of his own. He thought he sensed Stephen next to him stiffen a tad; he hoped Stephen would understand that he was still wholeheartedly on his side, even though he was conversing so casually with a man he’d expressed he wanted dead. Jay, on the other hand, didn’t seem like he had a grasp on how he was supposed to react at all; it seemed as though every person Daniel would introduce their quest to would either label him an idiot, or would temporarily forget how to speak. “Stephen had nothing to do with that.”

His reply apparently only served to confuse Jay further.

“Have you actually ever been close to the Gate?” he raised a brow. Daniel shook his head; he’d caught wind of countless rumors about it – enough to have, in his honest opinion, a vague idea of what it might be like –, but he’d never gotten close enough himself. Not many people had. “If you can’t find your way around, you’re basically guaranteed to die, though. Actually… your chances still don’t seem that great even if we put that aside…”

The same warning Daniel had been given a thousand times, the same answer that had chipped away at his patience bit by bit each time someone directed it at him. A frustrated huff left his lips.

“You don’t _know_ that- I’m so sick of hearing that every time!” he snapped, shaking his head in disbelief. “Why is everyone so content with living like this? How- How can you be so aloof!?”

“Don’t bother, Dan,” Stephen sneered. “Someone like him wouldn’t understand.”

Jay… frowned.

“…You’re right. I don’t understand.”

He sounded so deadpan, Daniel briefly wondered if he was perhaps being sarcastic; he was remarkably difficult to get a read on, even more so than Hosuh when he was trying to hide something.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before he continued.

“I have a deal for you. I’ll let you go free, but, in exchange, I want to come with you. I’ve been near the Gate enough times that I’m probably your best bet if you need someone to navigate you.”

Stephen’s immediate, knee jerk reaction didn’t exactly shock Daniel.

“I’d rather bathe in broken glass,” he glowered; Jay seemed more amused by the statement than anything. “Why the hell would _you_ want to come along?”

Jay’s reasoning was simple.

“Because I’m curious.”

He leaned against the tree behind his back, eyes full of wonder.

“I’ve never met anybody with so much conviction in such a strange plan. I want to see if you’re telling the truth. And… I want to be able to understand.”

He slipped his hands into his pockets.

“It also sounds a lot more interesting than staying with these guys. They’re a bit too rambunctious for my liking.”

Daniel was almost afraid to give an answer that was anything but a straightforward no, but no matter how much he wanted to take Stephen into consideration, he knew they were in dire need of assistance. And… more than anything, he was worried about putting his companions in unnecessary danger, even if he couldn’t yet tell if Jay was to be trusted or not in regard to being a guide. Weirdly enough, despite his history with Stephen… he didn’t seem like the type to go out of his way to cause harm to someone.

In fact… he didn’t seem like he really _cared_ for anything, beyond satiating his desire for knowledge.

If he was… or _had been_ an assassin, rather, he would have had to have been acting on orders; Daniel’s heart tightened with a rush of empathy and pity as he attempted to calculate what age he must have been at. He _must_ have only been a kid; just how much had he gotten to make his own decisions…? Young children being taken advantage of was an occurrence he was uncomfortably familiar with, and he’d witnessed time and time again the terrible things it could lead to.

Then again… he had still killed other people, and, most worryingly, Daniel wasn’t sure if he’d actually regretted any of that. Was it really okay for him to feel sympathy for such a person…? Was he simply letting his own emotions get to him, letting them cloud his judgement as he had a tendency of doing…?

If only he had a way of finding the right answer beyond a shadow of a doubt…

The breath he’d been holding in almost exploded out of his chest when Jay spread his arms to the side and made his one, last offer.

“Your friend wants to take revenge for his family, does he not? In that case… I will allow him to, if you manage to succeed on your quest. Does that sound like a better tradeoff?”

Daniel suddenly felt like he had even less of a grasp on Jay’s thought processes than before; Stephen seemed equally stunned. He must not have expected for him to be willing to go so far. And even if he was lying about that, Daniel was sure Stephen was aware that keeping him around would provide by far the most amount of and easiest opportunities to get rid of him.

In truth, he wanted to stop Stephen; no matter how many sins someone may have committed, he couldn’t imagine that killing them would erase all the suffering they have caused. Daniel cared for his new friend, and he wanted to warn him about treading a dangerous path… but would Stephen even listen? Or would he assume Daniel was being unreasonably idealistic yet again, and brush aside any well-meaning advice he would send his way…?

In the worst-case scenario, he might even abandon Daniel’s quest… As much as it pained him to allow Stephen to possibly commit something he’d never be able to take back, he _needed_ him to follow him to the Gate, no matter what; there was no way around that.

And so, unable to make up his mind, he stayed silent.

Stephen’s voice was eerily quiet the next time he spoke.

“Why should any of us trust you?”

“Because, whether you like it or not,” Jay stared into his eyes, letting his arms drop to his sides, “you have no choice but to.”


	7. Chapter 7

To say that Hosuh had been befuddled would have absolutely been an understatement. He had missed out on a lot more while he’d been asleep than he would have thought, and apparently some of it had included details neither Stephen nor Daniel were willing to share with him, from what he could tell by a couple of their responses. He supposed he had no right to pry, considering his own circumstances, though he still couldn’t help feeling curious.

What they _had_ told him – or Daniel had, rather, as Stephen was busy with dark thoughts brewing in his head – was that the blond stranger by the name of Jay who had joined them, had caused the demise of Stephen’s family, and Stephen held a deep, stubborn grudge… which, granted, did explain why Jay’s hands had been tied behind his back, but all of his instincts let Hosuh know to keep a careful eye on Stephen regardless.

The sharp glances he directed his way hadn't been enough to dissuade him in the slightest; Hosuh had a feeling he might end up doing something he would surely regret later.

He’d seen plenty of men go down a similar path, and the end of the road was never pretty.

He was sure Stephen would only become more irritable if he tried to provide him advice, though.

In any case, they appeared to had walked a considerable amount of distance already, as their new surroundings were completely different. When Hosuh had risen from his slumber – having been carried on Daniel’s back until that point –, they had already entered a canyon almost completely void of greenery, a shallow river, about ankle-deep, flowing through the middle.

At least they’d brought enough food to last them a couple more days, though, after that, depending on how long this area ended up being, they may have needed to just make do with smaller fish.

“I hope you won’t be mad that we’ve brought you this far,” Daniel had laughed nervously when Hosuh had questioned where they were, but Hosuh couldn’t find it in himself to be upset; on the contrary, he’d felt… relieved. He wasn’t sure what he would have done had they simply left him to his own devices somewhere.

Truth be told, he’d grown to admire Daniel enough to want to accompany him on his quest, even if he wasn’t exactly sure that he would have the courage to follow him the whole way there. Yet, in spite of his uncertainty, he’d felt a calling of some kind – as though, by assisting Daniel and risking his own life in the process, he’d be able to rid himself of the guilt that had been following him ever since he’d run away.

Perhaps, if he’d be willing to stay with him until the bitter end, he might get to see him succeed…

Hosuh’s stomach growled.

“We haven’t taken a break for a while now, huh… How about we have a quick bite?” Daniel proposed, to which Hosuh found himself nodding even before the question had properly entered his mind. They’d been on the move for ages now, and while he’d been able to handle the first day fairly well – considering Daniel had basically done most of the walking –, he wasn’t nearly as tough as the others when it came to any sort of physical activity to endure much more.

At least he could pull his own weight by keeping them all well-fed.

“Let’s catch some fish,” Stephen declared, clapping his hands together; he may have been starting to get tired of having to live on bread and vegetables for the last few days. “I’m craving fish. Who’s with me?”

“Can we even find fish big enough in this place?” Hosuh asked with mild concern.

“You’d never find one that could fill up the empty void that is Stephen’s heart, Hosuh,” Daniel gave Stephen a playful jab with his elbow, to which the latter whacked him lightly on the back with his staff in return. Despite the tension Hosuh had sensed between them earlier, it seemed like they were able to interact relatively normally; he let out a relieved breath he hadn’t even realised he’d been holding in.

“You’d never find one that could fill up this cretin’s empty head,” Stephen countered, after which he turned to Hosuh, pointing at Jay. “Daniel and I are going to go get some fish, so keep an eye on him while we’re gone. Make sure he doesn’t run off or do something that could get us in trouble.”

“Just scream very loudly if you think you’re in danger,” Daniel suggested, which did nothing to put Hosuh’s mind at ease about the task, but he didn’t put up an argument; he was far too hungry to even try. He briefly considered snacking on a raw vegetable or two before the other two could even return to allow the cooking to begin.

As Daniel and Stephen trudged off to find a good spot to fish, they got smaller and smaller in the distance before disappearing completely, hidden from view by the curving road, Hosuh figured he would rest up by giving his legs a break and simply taking a seat; the bunched up fabric of his tunic provided enough cushion alongside the short grass for it to be actually relatively comfortable. Jay, on the other hand, remained standing, seemingly absentmindedly staring off somewhere, eyes unfocused. He must have been very deep in thought about something.

Hosuh tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat; naturally, he felt wary around someone that, according to Daniel, had been an assassin in the past, but, despite that, he couldn’t shake the urge to also want to know more about the strange man. It may have been the same sort of fearful fascination that he’d been familiarized with upon being confronted with people who had done heinous things many times before, or perhaps just another manifestation of his ever-present desire to understand the people around him better; he couldn’t quite be sure, but, either way, it wasn’t something that he could just ignore.

“Aren’t you going to sit down?” he questioned, to which Jay, snapping out of whatever stupor he’d been in, tilted his head a little.

“Why?”

“_Why?_” Hosuh repeated, a tad dumbfounded by it; he looked around for help before remembering that Daniel and Stephen weren’t around at the moment. “Well, isn’t it uncomfortable, staying like that? There’s still a long journey ahead of us, so it would be best not to waste your energy.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Jay responded, flashing another one of his crooked smiles that Hosuh had come to recognise as mild amusement. “I’ve spent much longer travelling on my own, so I’m plenty used to it.”

Hosuh shook off the embarrassment that immediately greeted him at the back of his mind.

“Why are you staying with these guys?”

The question had come out of nowhere to the point where Hosuh needed several seconds to actually comprehend it; Jay seemed as though he’d meant it genuinely, though, and Hosuh had to wonder if this was his way of making small talk, or if it just happened to be the main thing on his mind. It may have been a bit of both.

Hosuh had wrestled with himself about it enough to be able to provide at least a vague answer by now, if nothing else.

“I… want to be of help to somebody,” he fiddled with a blade of grass he’d torn off without thinking, his hands in his lap. “Ever since I met Daniel, I’ve started to feel like there might be something out there for me… something that I could do to give other people courage.”

He paused briefly, knowing that hadn’t been the full truth.

“And… I also want to see him be able to complete his quest,” he added shyly; his tone had become warmer, betraying the fondness he’d developed for his companions. “I think it’s amazing that he can believe in himself so wholeheartedly, even after everything he’s been through… He’s even managed to influence someone like Stephen.”

He looked up at Jay, daring to be more outwardly inquisitive; opening up about his own thoughts had given him enough certainty in himself to be able to temporarily relax.

“Why did _you_ want to come? Daniel only said you offered to guide us to the Gate. You must have had a reason for that.”

Jay opened his mouth to respond, however, before he could do so, his expression shifted slightly, and Hosuh turned his head in the direction he appeared to be staring at to see a faint cloud of smoke had formed in the distance. He bit his lip; was that a bad sign…? If there had been a serious commotion, the echo of it would have surely reached them with ease, and yet he couldn’t stop himself from becoming increasingly worried that something bad may have happened.

As to what that something must have been… he couldn’t say, but he’d never been the type to brush paranoia aside completely.

Jay, as though having read his mind, motioned towards the smoke.

“Care to investigate with me?”

* * *

Daniel really did not think they’d get captured again so soon, and yet, there they were, locked up behind sturdy, iron bars, inside of what Daniel was fairly certain must have been built as a prison a long time ago, but had been transformed into a surprisingly comfy hideout with blankets and pillows, and all sorts of treasure strewn about. There were swords, knives, spears, jewelry, odd-looking statues, weirdly unsettling tapestry, old, yellowed scrolls, and countless other trinkets to be seen, but their owner hadn’t even cared to arrange them, as though they’d only bothered collecting them so they would have something to hoard. The single lantern in the middle of the room atop a small table gave it an eerie, somewhat unnerving vibe, like they’d stumbled into the lair of a dragon.

The last thing Daniel could remember before him and Stephen had woken up here was sweet-scented smoke filling the air, and while Stephen had made an attempt to warn him, it had already been too late, and he’d lost consciousness in mere moments. If he had to take a guess, the hideout must have been inside some tunnel that ran through the valley, though he couldn’t exactly be sure.

He wondered who had brought them here and why; his sword and Stephen’s staff had joined the pile of presumably stolen items, _of course_, but their captor must have had a reason for taking them as well instead of merely snatching their valuables. Surely they wouldn’t want to… _eat_ them or something, right…? He rubbed the finger he’d always worn his ring on, its absence leaving behind a nervous pit in his stomach, despite being well aware that it was more than likely nearby as well.

He scratched the back of his head as he attempted to think of a way to get out, ignoring Stephen for the time being, who was pretty occupied with trying to reach for his staff and cursing under his breath. While he’d managed to easily fit one of his arms through the bars, it wasn’t going to go further than his shoulder; he seemed determined to keep trying anyway, perhaps fuelled by sheer anger and annoyance.

A padlock hung from the door of their cell; if they could somehow get that open…

The sound of footsteps getting closer snapped Daniel back to attention, and Stephen quickly drew his arm back; whether he simply didn’t want to be caught in a position he would have deemed embarrassing, or if he was bracing himself for some kind of a confrontation, had been left unclear, but Daniel wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been a bit of both. He himself adjusted his stance lightly so he could react fast depending on the level of the threat.

The footsteps got louder and louder as a dark figure slowly entered the room, becoming illuminated bit by bit by the lantern's dim light as they approached the cell; Daniel’s mouth fell open once he was actually able to make out their features.

The girl was short, incredibly so – even Hosuh may have been at least an entire head taller –, and her hair was tied in cute little pigtails, complimenting her childlike face and big, sparkly eyes. She wore a scarf around her neck that she’d used to cover her face moments ago, though Daniel couldn’t figure out why she would have had the need for such a thing in the middle of nowhere with almost no people to be found.

She may have just been fond of keeping up appearances even without an audience.

Daniel grasped the bars.

“Hey, little girl, could you let us out?” he pleaded, hoping that _asking nicely_ might do the trick somehow. They couldn’t even be sure if she’d been the one to lock them in here in the first place, so it was worth a shot.

“Bold of you to call me little when I’ve got the upper hand, adventurer” the girl sneered, and Daniel’s hopes were immediately dashed; her demeanor made it clear she was going to be very difficult to negotiate with. The only thing he had left to count on was that Hosuh would be able to find a way in here somehow… “I need you for bait later. I _might_ let you go after that, if you manage to come out alive by some miracle.”

“Bait…?”

“To catch a monster,” the girl said, her tone indicating that Daniel should have obviously thought of it himself. “They’re _way_ tastier than having fish every day. I’ve got plenty of traps prepared for the next one already.”

“You _eat_ monster meat-?” Stephen must have found it as blatantly ridiculous as Daniel, as his voice had briefly risen to resemble a disgruntled bird that had gotten knocked out of its nest. The girl shrugged without much of a care.

“It’s easy enough to prepare.”

“Listen-“ Daniel took a deep breath, forcing down all the rebuttals that had popped into his head about how crazy this whole situation started to feel all of a sudden, knowing that freaking out wasn’t going to help. “We really need to go. We’re on a very important quest, and-“

“Yeah, that’s what they all say,” the girl dug around and pulled out a basket of dried fruit, shoving a fistful into her mouth, cheeks bulging out like some sort of squirrel. Daniel stubbornly persisted.

“We want to close the Gate. If you could just let us go, we would only be helping you out in the long run-“

In the blink of an eye, a blade had been pointed at his throat; the girl, having swallowed her quick snack alarmingly fast, had drawn the knife that had been hanging from her side, making it clear that she had no intentions of cooperating. Daniel backed away instinctively, and she took a step closer, gripping one of the bars herself with her free hand.

“Listen up, bucko,” she narrowed her eyes, “I’m not some stupid kid that you can woo with your made-up adventures, do you understand? Even if you were telling the truth, there’s no way in hell you could make it over there.”

She withdrew the knife, but she didn’t break eye contact just yet, only taking a single step back.

“If you stand between me and my food, I won’t hesitate to slit your throat and toss your corpse to the vultures… Don’t test me on that,” she stated, her eyes ice cold; she finally turned her back a second or two later to head back out in the same direction she’d come from, and Stephen clicked his tongue.

“Well, Daniel, what now? What happened to your golden-tongue?”

“We could try picking the lock,” Daniel suggested, to which Stephen reacted with a flat look and a tilt of his head.

“With what, genius? Our nails?” he huffed; true, they didn’t have any tools on them that would’ve been of use, especially since they’d left Daniel’s bag with Hosuh. “Give it a shot and let me know how it goes.”

“I think we’d have better luck sawing the bars open with your snarky commentary, Stephen,” Daniel sighed, leaving the other man dumbfounded for a second.

“You basically just complimented me on my wit, you knucklehead, how is that an insult?”

“It’s not,” Daniel responded, folding his arms across his chest. “Help me look around for a pin or something, please.”

* * *

Stephen had ended up snatching up a fancy hairpin barely within arm’s reach; he himself had never picked a lock, as he had a preference for blowing doors off their hinges instead if he absolutely had to get past one, causing him to have to leave the task for Daniel to perform, though Stephen was highly doubtful of his abilities. Still, it was better than doing nothing but waiting around, even if watching Daniel tinker with the lock was proving to be mind-numbingly dull.

Soon, a flicker of a shadow in the darkness caught his eye; while Daniel was too busy focusing to notice anything himself, Stephen was unwilling to brush it off as his imagination going wild. He got to his feet, stepping forward in hopes of taking a better look, instinctively craning his neck.

His mind really hadn’t been playing tricks on him.

He elbowed Daniel when the figure got close enough, causing him to drop the pin from being startled; before he could chastise Stephen for it, though, he finally spotted the person that had entered the room. Stephen felt Daniel’s fingers curl around his forearm – a gesture that he was sure was meant as a warning for him to control his temper –, and he glared at the all-too-familiar face that had apparently been the one to come to their rescue.

“Where’s Hosuh?” he demanded; when he realised Jay’s hands were still very much tied behind his back, his frown only deepened.

“You don’t have to worry about him,” Jay flashed a reserved smile, lifting one of his feet; Stephen briefly wondered if he was going to attempt to break the lock open with an infuriatingly precise kick or something, but Jay reached for his boot instead, fishing out a small dagger from inside of it. Even though they had patted him down for any weapons, he’d apparently still managed to hold onto at least one. “I advised him to hide outside. He should be just fine, unless he makes enough noise to draw attention to himself.”

Swiftly cutting the rope that had been binding his wrists, Jay bent down to pick up the pin Daniel had dropped, lowering himself onto one knee and getting to work on the lock without a word.

Stephen’s blood boiled from the thought that this guy would end up being the one to save him and Daniel; he almost found himself considering staying inside the cell even if Jay somehow got the door open, and letting the pigtailed rogue feed him to some monsters – at least that way he wouldn’t have had to concentrate all of his willpower into keeping his fists by his side instead of directing them at the blond’s head.

That perpetually composed attitude of his never failed to get on his nerves either; had he no shame, acting as though he had the right to feel joy ever again after what he’d done? Did he sleep soundly at night, knowing all the innocents he’d murdered would never be woken up by the rays of the rising sun again? No matter how long ago it had happened, forgiveness wasn’t a concept that had crossed his mind a single time.

Daniel was lucky he was willing to be patient…

He was lucky Stephen was giving any consideration to his quest, instead of strangling this bastard as soon as the perfect opportunity had arisen.

In mere seconds, the lock landed on the ground, and the door was opened without any further resistance. Daniel blurted out a surprised ‘thank you’; Stephen refused to say anything.

“I suggest searching the room for anything worth taking while there’s still time,” Jay gestured at their surroundings. Daniel dove right in – something that Stephen had scoffed at until he saw him gingerly lift a ring off the floor, slipping it on his finger once he’d gotten to carefully examine it. Stephen vaguely recalled him keeping it on during baths as well; he was reminded of a child unwilling to part with his favourite toy. He might have even poked fun at him for it if he hadn’t caught a glimpse of the way Daniel’s shoulders had sunk in visible relief when he found it again, an emotion Stephen couldn’t quite place displayed on his face for a split-second before he nodded his head.

“I agree with Jay. The more ways we have of defending ourselves, the safer we will be.”

Stephen wanted to argue out of spite, if nothing else, but the brief display of vulnerability Daniel had showcased left him just dazed enough to end up shrugging his shoulders without a second thought; he supposed he would have to leave it be. They couldn’t risk spending too much time on the search, but a quick look wouldn’t kill them.

Seeing Daniel pocket what seemed like a protective charm from the corner of his eye, Stephen sighed before he settled on a pair of thick, silver bracelets, which he recognised as decent spell magnifiers. After he’d tried out a couple to see which one would fit his hand best, Jay picked out a dagger for himself, as well as an oddly shaped weapon that resembled a tiny, bastardized crossbow, equipped with a bunch of small needles with feathers sticking out of them. Stephen still wasn’t willing to trust him in the slightest, but he could at least believe that his motives may not have involved directly harming him or Daniel, as he could have done so many times before.

The thought only pissed him off more, if he had to be honest.

* * *

When Hosuh had watched Jay sneak into the cave he’d picked up on, he’d been relatively content with staying behind, hidden from sight, able to observe whatever may transpire from a safe distance – not because he was fine with Daniel and Stephen possibly being in danger, but because he’d needed a moment to cool his head.

By the time him and Jay had turned the corner, the other two had gone missing seemingly without a trace, and the only thing left to greet them had been faint remains of the smoke, which were already clearing up rapidly. Hosuh, admittedly, had begun to panic, but Jay had simply walked around the area calmly, determining that Daniel and Stephen must have been dragged into the cave based on some tiny pieces of torn rope and fabric he’d found on the rocks. He hadn’t made a single request to Hosuh to remove his bindings, merely instructing him to wait for him to return, and he was gone within moments, leaving Hosuh dumbfounded.

Now, though, he started to feel restless; what if the others were badly hurt and needed his help…? He’d _just_ regained his healing abilities with the help of the necklace; he wanted to take advantage of the fact that he finally had something of substance that he could provide, instead of having to be considered deadweight.

He let out a frustrated sigh as he straightened up from his hiding spot – a small rock, but enough to obscure him from view completely, thanks to his own height… or lack thereof –, only for it to be followed by a barely audible squeak as he jumped, startled by the stranger he’d made eye contact with in the process. It seemed to be a girl of ambiguous age – Hosuh would have pegged her as a child, had he not been a little too much aware of how deceiving appearances could be. Her strawberry blond hair and pigtails contrasted sharply with her leather boots and tool belt, from which various handheld weapons hung. The lower half of her face was covered by a red scarf, but Hosuh could still make out her surprised expression from the way her eyes had widened.

He froze; what was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t just run… Where would he even go? Stamina aside, he wasn’t particularly fast either, and he would inevitably end up getting caught.

On another note, could this suspicious stranger have been involved with Daniel and Stephen's disappearance? He couldn't know for sure, but now that she'd become aware of him, if he could somehow stall her, there was a chance it would leave Jay enough time to free the others, provided that she was the perpetrator.

The girl took a step towards him, squinting her eyes in what seemed to be an attempt at making out his face better.

“You seem familiar… We haven’t met before, have we?” she mused, cocking her head to the side; Hosuh blinked as he searched his memory for someone who may have fit her in appearance that he may have been familiar with, but he couldn’t think of anybody. He was fairly certain he had no idea who she was.

“I don’t… think so…?” he stammered out, fully aware of how awkward he sounded; the girl made a low humming sound as she furrowed her brows, her eyes lighting up a couple seconds later.

“Oh, I remember now. I caught a searching crow a while back that was carrying your portrait,” she snapped her fingers, her posture relaxing into a more casual stance. “You’re that high priest who went missing a while back… You’re with those two, huh?”

‘Those two’ must have been referring to Daniel and Stephen; Hosuh gave a hesitant nod, and the corners of the girl’s eyes rose, accompanied by a light giggle.

“What’s someone like you doing with that kind of a crowd? You don’t seem like the type who likes being dragged into trouble.”

She wasn’t wrong about that, but it wasn’t as though the decision he’d made had been an impulsive one, even if he hadn’t been entirely sure.

The girl leaned against the wall; a brief flash of light blinding Hosuh momentarily brought his attention to the knife she’d been holding in her hands, which she began playing with, tossing it around lightly as though she had no worries about dropping it or injuring herself by accident.

“You’re a coward, right? I heard what had happened before you’d vanished from letters pigeons had dropped off,” she continued, though her demeanor made it fairly clear she had more than likely been the one to snatch said letters for herself; a bead of sweat rolled down Hosuh’s temple, and he instinctively averted his gaze.

Shame was a tool easy to use against him, especially when he himself believed it to be justified.

“I’ve never heard of a healer who’d run from battle before when they hadn’t even been in direct danger,” she flicked her blade, momentarily studying it. “I actually thought it was pretty funny the first time I read about it. I didn’t think I’d ever come across the guy, though.”

If Hosuh could have casted a spell that would have caused the ground to swallow him up right where he stood, he’d have already done so; the mocking tone had caused more and more memories to flood back, and he’d visibly shrunk a tad, shoulders and head hanging low. He wondered if this was perhaps how his past visitors had felt when they’d come to him for forgiveness and guidance.

The day he’d been exiled was still crystal clear in his mind; he couldn’t have forgotten it even if he had tried. It had been an especially chilly morning; his breaths had formed into faint clouds of vapor, and he’d kept his arms wrapped around his torso, as the thin uniform he’d been dressed in didn’t quite provide enough protection from the elements.

Their town had remained one of the few still on its feet even after they’d been forced to fend off several beasts, which should have lent him a fair amount of confidence, but Hosuh had never actually been in combat before himself, which had left him feeling anxious beyond belief; it may have been part of the reason why he’d been shivering so much. There was nothing he could do, though; the couple healers that were left were far too exhausted to be able to help out, so he had been instructed to assist the men who had gathered to fight off the monster that had made the lake they’d been using to catch fish its home.

Having never come face-to-face with such a creature before outside of textbooks, Hosuh’s legs had been shaky and weak before the battle had even started, and the sinking dread that had flooded him was still incredibly vivid in his head.

The ginormous tentacles, the dozens of glowing, crimson eyes and the creature’s slimy, fleshy body had haunted his dreams ever since that day, alongside the mixture of screams of terror and cracking of bones that had filled the air. In the last moments before whatever had been left of Hosuh’s courage had vanished, before his willpower had disappeared without a trace, all he could do was stare in stunned silence at the water that had turned murky and red, and the countless bodies that were piled up on shore.

At some point, he’d stopped chanting.

At some point, his voice had completely left.

The events that had followed had been a blur; all he could remember was his legs moving on their own, his heart hammering away in his chest, his lungs and throat burning while he’d rapidly gasped for air. He’d never been so terrified before in his life, and it had become far too much to bear, all of his instincts screaming at him to escape, to get as far away as possible before he could be next.

In a disgraceful moment of weakness, Hosuh had abandoned the people who had trusted him with their lives.

The necklace he’d been given for the battle had turned into a heavy chain around his neck, a constant reminder of a mistake he hadn’t been able to forgive himself for, and of the ones whose faith he had betrayed. He couldn’t go back home after that again; he wouldn’t be able to look into his family’s eyes, to be looked upon with resentment, or worse, pity. His banishment may have been his own decision, but his conscience had left him little to no choice in the matter.

He wondered what Daniel would have said to him if he knew of the horrible sins he’d committed.

Hosuh was brought back to reality when the girl, who had been thoughtfully observing him up until now, pushed herself away from the wall with nonchalant movements, tossing her knife into her dominant hand.

“Well, this has been a nice chat, but all good things come to an end eventually. I’ll be taking those now,” she pointed the blade at Hosuh’s neck, and he lifted his hands without thinking in an attempt to shield himself as he took a step back; he was willing to risk getting hurt as long as it meant the necklace would stay safe so he could return it one day when he’d gathered enough determination to do so. Until then, he couldn’t let it be stolen again.

If it meant he’d have to shed his own blood, then so be it; he braced himself as best he could, taking a deep breath.

The threat of danger turned out to be rather short-lived, however; as soon as the pigtailed girl moved to approach him, something small that Hosuh couldn’t quite make out shot out from inside the cave and embedded itself in the back of her neck, stunning her briefly before she unceremoniously toppled over to reveal the thin needle that had penetrated her flesh. Judging by the fact that her chest kept steadily rising and falling even after that, it must have been coated with some kind of mild poison that would induce sleep.

Jay emerged from the cave with a wave of his hand, followed by a visibly relieved Daniel and an extremely disgruntled Stephen, and Hosuh’s concerns were momentarily wiped away when he rushed over to see that they had no additional injuries on them.

“You okay?” Daniel questioned, to which he gave a dazed nod; his one-sided conversation with the girl was still lingering in the back of his head. How much had the others heard before they had incapacitated her…? Hosuh didn’t dare make eye contact to check; his gaze was fixated right below Daniel’s chin before it shifted to his own shoes.

He flinched when he felt a hand make contact with his shoulder, and he looked up reflexively to be met with a look of gentle reassurance from Daniel.

“Whatever happened in the past can’t be undone… but who you used to be isn’t important; all that matters is that you’re a comrade of ours now,” Daniel gave him a warm smile so bright Hosuh almost moved to cover his eyes before the adventurer gave Stephen a nudge in the side. “Isn’t that right, Stephen?”

Stephen’s expression softened enough for Hosuh to make note of it.

“Why are you asking me? I thought we already agreed we wouldn’t fire the one person who can actually cook,” he grumbled, tugging his hood lower to mask his face better in the process.

Hosuh’s chest swelled with an emotion he wouldn’t have been able to put into words; the more time he’d spent with Daniel, the more he understood why he’d felt so drawn to him in the first place, and why he’d been the first person to make him wonder if he deserved a second chance.

Daniel was kind, perhaps far too much so for his own good… but Hosuh couldn’t bring himself to turn it down.

He took the hand Daniel had extended to him to shake it firmly, the words that had replaced the apology he’d formed in his head leaving his lips next.

“Thank you… I’ll hold you to your word, then.”

Daniel laughed.


	8. Chapter 8

The barren land they could see in the distance provided no comfort, but Stephen tried not to dwell on it too much; he’d have more than enough time to complain once they actually got there. They’d left the valley this morning – he’d stopped bothering to keep track of how much time had passed since they’d entered, but he was relieved nevertheless to not be surrounded by tall walls on both sides anymore.

There wasn’t much green here either, but at least their current surroundings were still preferable over the desert of rocks that they would soon have to traverse. According to Jay, it would only take them a day or so to cross, but they’d have to follow his directions very closely if they didn’t wish to take an unplanned bath in one of the many geysers to be found, and petty as Stephen wanted to be, he didn’t consider the image of his body painfully dissolving to be particularly inviting.

Munching on the meal Hosuh had cooked up, Daniel and Stephen were sitting in silence for a while, their shadows getting longer and longer the lower the sun dipped in the sky. Hosuh had been exhausted enough to fall asleep immediately once he’d finished cooking, even though Daniel had tried to insist that he eat alongside them, and Jay had joined him shortly after, having finished his own portion in practically a minute.

Come to think of it, Stephen hadn’t been alone with Daniel like this for a while – not without it involving having to perform some kind of task, always frustrating, never simple. Admittedly, this was a nice change of pace; he was almost willing to skip out on sleep just so he could appreciate it for longer, but he knew he’d end up regretting it the next day.

Daniel ended up being the one to speak up first, as expected.

“Hey,” he paused for a brief moment, his half-eaten food still in his hand, “I’ve been thinking.”

“That’s a surprise,” Stephen remarked dryly. He earned a small chuckle from the other man, though it melted away soon enough to be replaced by something a little more reserved and cautious. Stephen recognised it as the same face Daniel would always make when he wanted to bring up something heavy or serious; he really should have figured it out by now that prolonging these sorts of conversations would only save him from having to get to the point for so long.

“It’s about what Jay said…” Daniel continued, and Stephen’s expression instinctively darkened; he made an effort to slip into something more neutral, not wanting to give Daniel a hard time for something he’d had no involvement in.

When had he started taking Daniel’s feelings into account…? He wanted to laugh from the ridiculousness of it all.

“You’ll have to be a bit more specific,” Stephen leaned on his free hand, shuffling around a little to get more comfortable, able to sense the lengthy exchange this would inevitably evolve into. “He’s said a lot of stuff, and I’m not too keen on taking notes.”

Daniel scratched his head.

“So, when he mentioned your dad…”

Ah, so that was what he’d been getting at; Stephen relaxed visibly this time around. Daniel must not have expected the change in attitude, judging by the mildly baffled look he gave him, and Stephen pretended not to notice the soft, almost inaudible sigh he’d let out.

Stephen couldn’t quite remember how old he had been when he’d first realised it, but he’d lost any attachment he may have felt towards his father a very long time ago. He’d might as well have been a stranger – a stranger that just so happened to have lived with him and his family. He’d always been occupied with his research, which Stephen had never been allowed to peek at… a rule he would break without fail whenever the opportunity arose.

The only thing Stephen had been grateful to him for was the many books and scrolls he’d left behind, all of which Stephen had used to diligently study in his younger years. For all he knew, the man could have died on the very same day that he’d opened the Gate all those years ago; he certainly hadn’t seen any sign of him since.

“You said you already had an idea, right?” Daniel took a quick bite between sentences; Stephen nodded. “Do you know… why he’d done that?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Stephen shrugged. “You’d heard Jay. He was just some lunatic who’d thought he could take over the world by himself, apparently.”

“Huh…” Daniel watched Stephen shove the rest of his food into his mouth all at once, barely reacting when a tiny portion of his own was also stolen soon after. “…I would’ve thought you’d have been more bothered by it.”

Stephen didn’t have to mull that over particularly hard.

“Not really. I’d never been close to the guy.”

Finally done eating, he folded his arms behind his head, and he kicked back with his back against the ground, staring at the cloudy sky above them. The first few stars were already visible.

“What does bother me…” he spoke without thinking, his mouth forming the words on its own, “is how unfair everything ended up being. My mom… She hadn’t done anything wrong. I just… can’t get over the fact that she ended up suffering for my old man’s mistakes, you know?”

The confession left behind a bitter taste, but, at the same time, his chest had become a tad lighter.

He hadn’t realised how much he’d grown to trust Daniel until now. Despite how obnoxious and infuriating he could be at times, he was very hard to hate. He was very similar to Hosuh in that way; he gave off an aura that would make you feel as though you could spill all your secrets to him, and he would listen without any judgement on his behalf.

It reminded Stephen of his own mother.

“Before I met you… all I’ve been able to think about was undoing all that. It must have been the only reason I’d been left alive.”

The gemstone in his staff glittered in the increasingly softer rays of the sun.

“Raising the dead with their soul still intact… It’s a hopelessly difficult task. I haven’t even come close after over a decade of trying,” he exhaled a heavy sigh, closing his eyes. “I might be as stupid as you for not having given up on it yet.”

The envy he’d felt towards Daniel’s optimism and willingness to try when they had first crossed paths had already dissipated. He’d resisted letting it shape his own beliefs for as long as his stubbornness had allowed him to, but he wanted to hold onto the hope he’d been given. He wanted to believe that Daniel really was capable of taking him to the Gate so they could close it once again…

He wanted to believe that Daniel was right, and that even in a world like this one, he still had a chance at happiness.

“I’m not going to forgive Jay for what he’s done… but I have faith in this ridiculous quest of yours.”

He opened his eyes again, lifting his head just enough to meet Daniel’s gaze.

“You better make it worth it.”

He caught a glimpse of Daniel twisting the ring around his finger, the action followed by a determined nod filled with confidence.

“I will.”

* * *

The heat was unbearable.

Most of it wasn’t even from the sun, as far as Hosuh could tell, but all four of them were drenched in sweat from head to toe, albeit Jay, walking in the front, appeared to have been the least fazed by it. Hosuh had come to expect him not to react much to discomfort or danger by now, but that didn't make Hosuh any less baffled by it. His clothes stuck to him damply, and they felt heavier and heavier the more they walked, as though another person was clinging to his body and he was having to drag them along.

Ironically, the experience reminded him of trudging through a waist-deep lake or river.

Stephen, with the help of his recently acquired accessories, had coated them in a spell that was supposed to provide protection against the heat; Hosuh couldn’t imagine how much worse it would have been without Stephen’s assistance. He may very well have melted into a puddle.

They’d also brought as much water as they could manage, but they’d already run out… Figures. Jay had warned them ahead of time, so it wasn’t like they’d been caught completely off-guard by it, though Hosuh had found himself praying that Jay had been exaggerating several times.

He had no idea how his body was still capable of producing sweat, when he was fairly certain he was slowly turning into a raisin.

Daniel and Stephen weren’t in much better shape.

Stephen’s hair had flattened into a sad little mop; he’d stubbornly kept his cloak on for the first few hours, but he’d caved in when he’d realised they’d still had at least half a day to go, keeping the fabric rolled up and tied around his waist for the rest of the trip. He’d begun using his staff as a walking stick, which, in combination with his wheezing, very much made him resemble an old man.

While Daniel hadn’t given his sword similar treatment, he _had_ stripped his armor off, keeping it in his bag for the time being; merely looking at his leather boots was setting Hosuh’s own feet on fire. He must have been having the toughest time out of them all, having to hold onto the heaviest items and whatnot… Hosuh might have offered to take some of it off his hands if he hadn’t been sure he himself would collapse immediately if any additional weight was added.

He was honestly kind of tempted to strip naked, the only thing stopping him being a tiny voice in his head working very hard to hold onto his dignity for him. He wouldn’t have been shocked if Daniel had thrown his clothes off anytime soon, though.

After a while, even Hosuh’s sense of time seemed to have vanished; how many hours had it been…? He didn’t want to waste energy by asking, but, regardless, his movements were practically only being fuelled by pure willpower by this point. The distant sounds of geysers occasionally erupting may have actually provided some help, at least, as each occurrence jolted him fully awake from the feverish, dazed state he’d sunken into, preventing him from tripping over a rock and falling flat on his face. He didn’t dare let his skin come into contact with the ground; he had no idea how hot it really was, but the last thing he needed was having to heal from a severe burn.

As comforting daydreams featuring soft beds and cold baths entered his mind, Hosuh wondered if he really would be able to last, when suddenly…

Without warning, Daniel’s knees buckled underneath him, and Stephen had just enough time to catch him before he hit the ground as he collapsed, visibly unsteady on his feet from the extra weight. Though Stephen was clearly trying his hardest to keep Daniel upright, gritting his teeth as beads of sweat rolled down the side of his face and neck one after another, there was no telling how long he’d be able to keep it up.

Daniel’s face was flushed even more so than the others’, his breathing labored and heavy, his eyes glazed over; a wave of nausea washed over Hosuh as he realised that if they weren’t going to be able to get out of here, and _fast_, Daniel’s condition might prove to be fatal. He’d had plenty of experiences with fevers before, and he hated the familiar knot that had appeared in his stomach from the thought of the worst-case scenario.

He steeled himself, opening his mouth, channeling his panic into casting a spell; there wasn’t much he could do to actually save Daniel, but he could give him time, if nothing else. The particular one he’d chosen was fortunately simple enough, and wasn’t going to drain him nearly as fast as healing major physical injuries may have – granted, he wasn’t sure how much of a difference that was going to make, with how faint he himself had already been feeling before he’d even started.

Stephen had automatically turned to Hosuh for help, but the chanting was apparently enough to let him know Hosuh’s hands were already full; Jay stood a couple feet away, having grown used to waiting for explicit permission every time he wished to approach Stephen. His hands were in his pockets, and he’d shifted his weight from one foot to another, observing them without a word.

In the next few moments, Hosuh could make out a number of different emotions rapidly flash in Stephen’s eyes; he must have arrived at the same conclusion Hosuh had. If it hadn’t been impossible while he was in the middle of casting a spell, Hosuh may have been inclined to hold his breath, the tension in the air getting thicker with each passing second. Would he really…?

Stephen hissed something under his breath that sounded oddly similar to a certain curse he was rather fond of.

“Jay,” he called out to the fourth member of the group, tone filled with bitter desperation, “help me carry him.”

Jay proceeded to step closer before grabbing one of Daniel’s arms, draping it over his own shoulder; it may have been faster to lift him on his back instead, but Stephen wouldn’t have stood for leaving Daniel in just Jay’s care. Now that he’d received some assistance, though, Stephen seemed to have regained most of his balance, and the two began dragging the barely conscious Daniel, Hosuh following them closely behind in case one of them happened to fall or faint.

It was honestly kind of scary to watch how fast Jay was able to adjust his own pace to that of Stephen’s. Hosuh couldn’t tell how much of an effort Stephen had put into it, but the pair’s steps had synced up completely; to think that even in these circumstances, Jay was capable of focusing so intensely… Or perhaps he’d developed his muscle memory to the point where his body would move on its own without him having to pay much attention to it.

Regardless of whichever explanation was correct, being able to count on somebody to be able to back the other two up in Hosuh’s stead in terms of physical capabilities gave him the reassurance he'd been in need of, and he shooed away any thoughts of exhaustion to make sure he wouldn’t fall behind.

After that, he must have entered some kind of a trance, as the rest of the events later turned into a blurry mess in his head, his mind gradually emptying out every unnecessary thought. He would blink, and the entire landscape would shift around him, as though they’d used some sort of magic to travel faster, and, though his voice had turned rough and scratchy, he diligently kept on repeating the same lines, knowing that Daniel’s survival depended on him just as much.

In a twisted sort of way, part of him felt as though he was finally at peace.

When they finally reached the edge of the desert, he vaguely took notice of the way the temperature had progressively lowered to something considerably more bearable, and he couldn’t do anything to stop himself from staggering into Stephen when the two in front of him came to a sudden halt. The next thing he knew, the world was turning upside down; he realised he’d toppled over in the least elegant way possible, but he didn’t have the energy to adjust his weirdly contorted position anymore, hardly even taking note of the discomfort, as though his senses had been dulled so much it was a miracle they were still working at all.

He must have finally reached his limits.

Faintly wondering in the back of his head about who would be able to feed his companions now, the next thing he knew, he was out like a light.

* * *

When Hosuh woke up, the first thing he saw was the night sky. He was lying on his back, and the feeling of grass touching his skin tickled in a couple places; he must have been dragged further along after he’d fainted, as he could recall landing in the dirt with nothing to cushion his fall. He had no idea how much time he’d spend unconscious, but he couldn’t imagine that it had been more than a day at most, as the muscles in his legs were aching rather painfully.

One spell later the soreness mellowed out enough for him to be able to sit up, at the very least, and be able to properly examine his surroundings. They appeared to be in a meadow of some sort, and Hosuh could make out the sound of a river close by; the light of the moon wasn’t as helpful as it could’ve been thanks to the clouds drifting across the sky, but he was sure that if they’d been in any kind of danger, he would’ve noticed it a long time ago.

_That’s right…_ Most people would stay as far away from the Gate as possible, so it was a given that there would be no monsters around either. They’d occasionally spot one pass them by in the air while they were crossing the valley, but even that had been rare enough not to be of serious concern. It almost made Hosuh forget what the rest of the world had been like for the last decade or so…

Stephen lay on Hosuh’s left, his limbs splayed out in all directions, and Daniel was just a tad further, slumbering peacefully with what appeared to be a dark, wet piece of cloth draped across his forehead. Hosuh was relieved to see his complexion had improved, and while he still seemed to have remained a little feverish, it was nowhere near as bad as it had been the last time Hosuh had seen him.

Hosuh, not willing to attempt to stand just yet, crawled over so he could get a better look, flinching instinctively when he heard someone call his name behind him right after he’d placed a hand on Daniel’s cheek to get a good idea of his temperature. Looking over his shoulder, he let himself relax when he realised it was just Jay, holding what appeared to be some roasted meat on a skewer in his hand alongside a flask.

“Catch,” he simply said, and Hosuh scrambled to grab the food he’d thrown at him without impaling himself in the process. The flask arrived a second later, and he gulped down as much of it as he could manage, running out of breath in the process; water had never tasted better.

Rolling up his sleeves, he wiped his mouth with a big sigh.

“Aren’t you going to rest?” he inquired, shuffling around a bit to get into a position more comfortable; Jay’s lips stretched into an amused smile.

“I already did. I let you guys sleep for a couple more hours since it seemed like you needed it though.”

Hosuh took a bite of the meat he’d been given, eyes widening a bit moments later once his brain had actually registered the taste. Even though it had gone a little cold, the food was actually pretty delicious… Perhaps the previous day’s ordeal had played a part in that.

“You can cook?” he blurted out without thinking; in this day and age, cooking was a rare skill to have for lone travellers. Jay shook his head.

“I was just mimicking what I’d seen you do,” he plopped down on a small rock, leaning on one of his hands; Hosuh couldn’t believe how quickly he’d recovered already. He had to have been acting tough, right…? Hosuh couldn’t imagine that a person like this could actually be out there…

“Wow…” was all he responded out loud though, hungrily devouring the rest of his meal, feeling himself regaining even more energy once his stomach had been filled.

He resisted the urge to flop back down on his back, instead allowing himself to slouch a tad.

“Did you… treat Daniel?”

Jay nodded.

“And Stephen and you,” he added; Stephen must have been passed out for it, as Hosuh was fairly certain he wouldn’t have tolerated Jay going anywhere near him otherwise.

He decided not to comment on that out loud, though.

“Are you sure you’re even human…?” he asked instead; though the question wasn’t meant to be sincere, Jay seemed to think it over anyway, lightly tilting his head to the side.

“Well, it’s not like there’s a way to know that for sure,” he chuckled, soon craning his neck to look up at the star-filled sky. “I suppose I could be a spirit, or an undead… or a shapeshifting monster of some kind. Why?”

“…It’s just hard to believe it with the way you act…” Hosuh let his palms slip into the grass, enjoying the cool sensation on his fingers; he plucked out a blade without thinking, rolling it up and fiddling with it. “I’ve never seen you tired before either. Also, now that I think about it… you’re always awake whenever I am too… You’re not some kind of a ghoul, are you?”

Jay laughed; in these moments he seemed so carefree, so… _normal_, it had become more and more difficult to associate him with everything else Hosuh had learned about him. Was this really the same person who had taken Stephen’s family’s lives all those years ago…? Even though he was well aware that these sorts of people were often amongst the most ordinary ones, interacting with someone like this for so long was a completely difference experience than that of conversing with and providing guidance to someone for an hour or so once or twice a week.

Jay felt distinctly _human_, and Hosuh hated the thoughts this realisation brought to the surface from the unconscious parts of his mind.

His mouth formed his next words on its own.

“Did you really use to be an assassin…?”

Jay’s answer was uncomfortably casual.

“Yeah.”

Hosuh bit his lip as he lowered his head.

“Why?”

The question was vague, and loaded with all sorts of unsaid implications; Hosuh himself wasn’t sure either as to which ones he’d meant to include, and which ones just slipped in on their own. How was anyone even supposed to reply to that…?

He’d simply uttered the first thing that had popped into his mind.

Jay, matter-of-fact as he was, responded in the most straightforward manner possible.

“It was the job I’d been given.”

“…By who?”

“By the owner of the orphanage I was living at.”

Hosuh paused.

“…How old were you?”

Jay leaned further back, facing the moon completely; his features were bathed in its pale blue light, but he was still guarded enough that even though Hosuh could make out his expression completely, it told him absolutely _nothing_. He’d never met someone before who had been so difficult to read, someone who let their emotions slip so little.

“I don’t really know. I have no idea how old I am.”

He looked down at Hosuh after a couple moments passed in silence, only the quiet sound of the gentle breeze disturbing it until he spoke again.

“Why did you become a priest?”

Hosuh was caught off-guard by the unexpected inquiry.

“I… don’t really know,” he fidgeted with his hands in his lap, the blade of grass gripped between his thumb and two fingers. “It’s just the role I was given, I guess. I never really thought to ask my parents why… They more than likely picked out what they thought would be the best for me.”

Jay seemed genuinely interested, which Hosuh found very odd, as nobody he’d known had ever regarded his job as particularly exciting; the usual responses he would get would be polite compliments or empty platitudes… or perhaps requests for him to provide some kind of service, often without payment.

He cautiously allowed himself to feel flattered about the rare attention.

“What’s it like? Is it hard at all?” Jay continued prying, and Hosuh frowned as he mulled it over.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s easy… There’s a lot of studying involved,” he let out a weak laugh; he’d spent countless months memorizing large blocks of texts as a child, agonizing over having to accurately pronounce each and every word, lest he flounder a spell and turn someone inside out by accident. “It can be very rewarding, though… Being able to save someone else’s life, or just improve their circumstances little by little, if nothing else… I don’t think there’s a feeling quite like it.”

He exhaled quietly.

“I never thought I’d be particularly good at it when it mattered… I didn’t have the confidence or the experience. I wasn’t… like Stephen or Daniel… I was just an ordinary person, really.”

He lifted his head.

“It’s almost like my life had been missing an actual direction before I’d met them… As though I’d been content with merely completing the tasks I’d been given… Now, though… it feels like I finally have a purpose that I’d chosen for myself. It feels like I’m actually capable of doing good for the world now.”

He took a small breath.

“I… don’t know if you understood all that.”

Why was he bothering to explain himself in such detail…? Perhaps it was his very position that had driven him towards such a thing; he’d always felt inclined to offer insight to those that had been deemed lost or misguided.

A man’s actions defined his being more than his words, but Hosuh never thought it to be impossible for someone to turn their life around, and to atone for their wrongdoings… or at least make an attempt, in any case. The past could not be erased, mistakes could not be undone, but second chances came in droves, even to those who didn’t deserve it.

Whether Jay would have the right to salvation was not Hosuh’s place to determine.

“A purpose…” Jay echoed; he seemed a little bit like a child who had learned to say a word for the first time. He got to his feet, swiftly cracking his neck. “You three are an odd bunch. I was right choosing to come with you.”

Hosuh recalled the question he never got to receive an answer for.

“What was your reason for that? For… offering to guide us.”

Jay dug his hands through his hair before he walked past Hosuh to examine Daniel, possibly deeming that it was time to change his compress. He bent down to pick up the fabric and the flask, and Hosuh blinked, as he took notice of the rip alongside Jay’s sleeve for the first time, the darkness of the night having obscured it until now.

“There’s nothing really left for me to do in this world,” Jay murmured, straightening up with the cloth in his hand. “I figured I may as well use the time I have left to see if I can learn something new.”

Hosuh’s hand strayed towards his necklace.

“Has anyone ever performed a prayer for you?”

“Do those even work?” Jay grinned, slipping his free hand in his pocket as he walked off in a direction that Hosuh could only assume would lead to the river he’d noticed before. “I don’t even know your gods’ names; I highly doubt I’m in their favor.”

Hosuh sheepishly mumbled something that was meant to be along the lines of not being sure as he watched Jay wander off to get some more water.


	9. Chapter 9

_The air was filled with ash and dust; breathing it in made one feel as though they were suffocating, but the boy wasn’t willing to turn back. Pushing past rubble, he dashed across the street as fast as his legs could carry him, forcing down the fits of coughs that overcame him every time he took a breath too deep. Most of the people had escaped already; the few left were hurriedly grabbing any items of necessity they could carry in their arms, running from the town square, or riding horses or carriages._

_The fire had spread to the church, but nobody was willing to risk their own safety to put it out by this point._

_The boy’s blood was pumping loudly in his ears as he headed for the bakery across from it, ignoring the thunderous roars that were echoing throughout the entire town; the ground shook much more intensely this close to the source of the threat, but he managed to keep his footing somehow, practically ripping the door off its hinges as he burst inside._

_The ceiling had caved in – he’d been able to tell that from the outside –, but that hadn’t confirmed anything for sure… He stepped past shards of broken glass and porcelain, squashed pieces of bread scattered in-between, stumbling a few times in the process. He soon reached the counter._

_Maybe they were gone already… He hadn’t seen any of them in the initial crowd – which had been the reason he’d snuck away from his parents in the first place –, but there was still a chance that he had merely missed them in his panicked search. He swallowed nervously, taking a couple more careful steps, trying to keep his balance by holding onto the wall._

_A particularly violent tremor knocked him right off his feet, his hand sliding along the exposed, fragmented bricks painfully; he landed on the floor with a dull thud, his palm covered in bloody scratches and scrapes. He groaned as he struggled to push himself up again, flinching as a familiar object came into view just a couple inches further: a silver ring, fit for a hand larger than his own. His gaze drifted beyond, and his entire body froze in terror._

_Behind the counter, hidden from view from the main door, in the middle of a dark red puddle lay a hand he would have been able to recognise in his sleep. A hand that had belonged to the baker’s son who had played ball with him every day, who had gifted him a nifty knife fit for carving wood behind his parents’ back, who had brought him fresh bread on mornings he wasn’t feeling well, who had showed him the small hole in the back of the church so he could slip outside to practice sword fighting with sticks instead._

_Except now, the hand belonged to nobody. The boy lifted his own to cover his mouth tightly, the color draining from his face as the contents of his stomach threatened to spill. He could even make out the white of the bone; tears stung his eyes, the same stench he’d turned his nose up at in the butcher shop finally catching up to him._

_The distant, faded screams that filled the air outside barely even reached his ears as he let out a muffled cry._

* * *

Daniel awoke so suddenly he couldn’t even tell what was going on at first; as his heart was rapidly beating away in his chest, he stared up at the bright blue sky with eyes that couldn’t quite focus yet, terrified to move a single muscle lest it be the cause of his demise.

The first thing he noticed was how grossly damp his clothes were, sticking to him in all the wrong places. Next was the sensation of something cool and _wet_ over his forehead, then the feeling of grass underneath him, and lastly, the sound of his companions bickering close by. A sigh left his lips and he dared to close his eyes again for the next few seconds; he was okay, his friends were just fine, and there were no monsters lurking nearby.

The anxious thoughts he’d been repressing may have been the ones behind the scarily vivid nightmare.

His thumb traced the ring he wore on his finger as he focused on regaining his composure, the events that had led to him passing out slowly flooding back. Ashamed as he was of himself for having been the first one to collapse, the gratefulness he felt towards the others for saving his life yet again proved to be stronger; the relief of having somebody he could entrust his own life to wasn’t something he could say he’d been familiar with before he’d left on this quest.

Stephen’s words were still fresh in his mind. He was going to succeed, even if he’d have to break every bone in his body, even if he’d have to get cut, slashed, stabbed, and hit gods know how many more times until then.

If he’d have to use his last breath to defend Stephen so he could save what was left of humanity, he would do so in a heartbeat.

Once he’d managed to soothe himself enough that he was certain the others wouldn’t question if he’d seen a ghost, he sat up and clambered to his feet so he could join them in whatever debate they seemed to be having, the compress that had been on his head until now slipping down and landing in the grass.

* * *

“The next area will be tough,” Jay warned, though the way he was lounging around didn’t compliment the tone he might have been aiming for very well. “I suggest you all make sure you’re well-rested before we get going.”

“Tell me something I don’t know…” Stephen rolled his eyes. “We won’t have to return the same way when we’re done, are we? I’m already dreading that.”

‘_When_ we’re done’… Hosuh couldn’t help but dwell on that, but he kept his mouth shut for the time being, knowing that voicing his concerns to the others wouldn’t exactly help; he was sure Stephen had his own doubts as well, and was merely keeping quiet for the group’s sake. Besides, they’d gotten so close already… If they could hold out just a little longer, they might turn out okay…

“What’s in the next area?” Daniel asked, chewing on the meal Hosuh had cooked up for him; Jay had caught a couple birds for them while Daniel had still been unconscious, which Hosuh had promptly prepared as soon as he took notice of Daniel rousing from sleep. He seemed to have returned to his usual self for the most part, which was definitely a relief to see, though Hosuh also couldn’t shake the feeling that something was also slightly off about him.

Then again, that could have also been an aftereffect of his fever.

Hosuh turned his attention back to Jay, knowing it wouldn’t do any good for his mind to start wandering right now.

“Undead,” was Jay’s response, though he continued soon enough once he recognised that may not have been enough for an explanation. “I guess you could call it a cemetery. There’s a couple scattered throughout the land, but this one is probably by far the most dangerous one. It’s generally manageable at the start, but when you get close enough to the center, you’re swarmed by hundreds of them. Nobody has ever made it past them, as far as I’m aware.”

Hosuh had heard of that before, though only mentioned briefly; some creatures had a habit of hoarding their victims’ corpses in areas of their choosing – assuming they didn’t simply devour them –, and each human they’d killed would rise as an undead, guarding their territory and attacking anyone wanting to pass through. How and why the bodies had been reanimated, nobody had been able to explain to him. Perhaps it was another one of the Gate’s mysterious effects, or perhaps it was a curse of some kind – a message of some sort from the gods, or the manifestation of vengeful spirits.

Whichever explanation was the truth, the only thing that mattered was that they couldn’t allow to let their guard down; Hosuh found himself gripping his necklace.

Lifting one of the smaller sticks they’d gathered for the campfire they’d built, Jay began drawing a map of some kind in the dirt, the other three curiously leaning closer; Hosuh’s head knocked into Daniel’s slightly in the process, and he mumbled a sheepish apology.

“There’s a tower in the center; it’s ridiculously tall, so you should be able to spot it even from afar. That will be our goal. The runes for the Gate should be somewhere inside, but that’s pretty much all I know.”

“At the top, if I had to guess…” Daniel let out a sigh before he turned to Stephen, and even before he’d uttered his next question, Hosuh could tell he was about to be shot down immediately. “If we’re dealing with undead, wouldn’t you be able to control them somehow…?”

“What do you think I am, a deity?” Stephen clicked his tongue. “I _might_ be able to sway a few on our side, but that’s about it, unless you’re willing to carry me on your back the rest of the day once I’ve used up all my energy.”

“A few is better than nothing…” Hosuh reached down to fiddle with the grass around him; this would be one of the worst possible times to put his combat capabilities to the test, and he was fairly certain the others were aware of it as well, which was proven right a moment later as Daniel spoke up again with renewed vigor in his voice.

“Hosuh is right; even just a couple might be enough to make a difference. Jay and I will cover the front,” he lifted a hand to pat his own chest, “and hopefully that’ll leave Stephen an opportunity to cast some of his funky spells. Hosuh should stay in the back and provide support when necessary.”

“If he’s too far behind he’ll just get attacked on his own, and then we’ll have nobody to kiss our ouchies better” Stephen argued, face scrunching up in mild annoyance. “I’ll take the back. I have more faith in myself to be able to fend off enemies.”

Hosuh wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment.

“On that note… have you figured out what that chain of yours does?” Stephen pointed at his neck, and Hosuh pursed his lips, hoping they weren’t expecting a response too optimistic. It wasn’t as though he was an expert on magical items.

“No, not yet… Joseph told me it would lend me its strength if I was in life-threatening peril, though.”

“A lot of help that did when we were being spit-roasted…”

“Well, it’s not as if it’s all-powerful,” Hosuh frowned, giving him a small jab with his elbow; even if he himself wasn’t all that confident about it, he would have at least appreciated a sentiment more hopeful. He supposed that even when Stephen was actively trying to be considerate, he still felt the need to be the gloomiest member of the party. “It might contain an offensive spell of some kind; that wouldn’t have saved us, now, would it?”

Stephen only scoffed.

“In any case,” Daniel interrupted their quarreling, clapping his hands together a couple times to grab their attention, “let’s just hope for the best, alright? We’ve come so far already, I’m sure we can get through anything as long as we work together!”

The attempt of raising their morale was so much like him that Hosuh’s worries about him vanished almost instantly; even though Stephen grimaced immediately, Hosuh didn’t miss the split-second warmth that had radiated from his eyes, and he knew that somewhere deep inside of him he wanted to believe those words himself.

Jay cleared his throat; Hosuh had almost forgotten he was still present.

“Might I suggest you also clean yourselves up before we get going? I’m not sure how strong an undead’s sense of smell is, but…” his voice trailed off, and Hosuh’s face reddened with embarrassment; he’d been so busy taking care of Daniel and preparing food, he'd genuinely forgotten about the bath he'd planned to take in the river..

If his parents could see him right now…

Daniel had choked on the water he’d been sipping; he wiped his mouth with his sleeve after an undignified coughing fit, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Why is everybody always complaining about that? Being an adventurer and defeating monsters and stuff is hard work, you know…!”

Everyone remained silent.

* * *

Hosuh did his best to avoid glancing backwards so he wouldn’t have to make eye contact with Stephen behind him; he could sense that Stephen was on edge, and he didn’t want to agitate him further, even by accident. Even though his instincts were instructing him to rotate his head rapidly so he could observe his surroundings better, he’d decided he would have faith in the other’s abilities and entrust him completely with covering them from the back.

Besides, Daniel and Jay were walking rather fast, and the two of them were having to put in quite a bit of effort not to be left behind.

By now, Hosuh could see the tower Jay had mentioned in the distance, which must have meant they were getting closer and closer to danger. The Gate did indeed appear to have originated from it; the ray of light they’d been using as their guide seemed to be shooting up into the sky from the top of the building. It looked like it had been plucked right out of one of those books of fairytales Hosuh had used to read as a child, and he wondered if he was supposed to take that as a good or a bad sign; he was sure he would receive a different answer from each of his companions if he were to ask, possibly ending with an ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about’ from Jay.

If they really did succeed… would he be able to see those books again? Would he finally be able to go back to his family if he were to present them with an achievement this incredible? Would they even believe him…? He knew he was getting ahead of himself, but he couldn’t help it; besides, he was sure the others had to have been having similar thoughts as well.

If they got out of this alive, what would they do? Where would they go? Daniel had a place to go back to, and Jay would more than likely just return to wandering the land on his own, but what about Stephen? Did he have anyone waiting for him back home? Did he even have a home of some sort…? Would he accompany Daniel on his journey back, or would he simply vanish alone, most likely never to be seen again?

Hosuh was pulled out of his musings back to reality as the first undead emerged in the distance, followed by a second, then a third, and he took a deep breath; if Jay was to be trusted, this was just the beginning, and they’d soon have to deal with a whole bunch of them.

Daniel unsheathed his sword.

The undead were hideous creatures made up of the reanimated corpses of animals and beasts; though the ones that they were having to face possessed the bodies of humans, they were soulless, empty shells, their rotting flesh exposing bits of muscle and bone. They lumbered along aimlessly, but would run and lunge at any prey that they’d spotted and would tear them limb from limb, feasting on their organs. From up close, one would be able to hear a faint clicking noise from their throat, though the occasion was almost unheard of, unless the individual was more than capable in combat.

They were also incredibly difficult to kill for the everyman, as their heads would have to be either sliced off clean, or they would have to be set ablaze by blessed fire – regular flames would slow them down temporarily, but their bodies would simply regenerate in moments.

Though more and more of them kept appearing, Jay and Daniel at the front didn’t seem to be having much trouble with dispatching them, at the very least; Hosuh was yet again amazed by how skillful they both were with their respective weapons.

Daniel’s sword sliced through bone like a knife through butter, and he’d take undead on in smaller groups, maneuvering between them with masterful footwork and often decapitating more than one with each of his attacks. Hosuh had offered to hold onto his bag, which meant the usual weight he had to carry had been lightened as well; his movements were smooth and elegant, almost resembling a dance of some kind.

Jay wasn’t falling behind either, even if his method may not have seemed as efficient; he must not have been fond of using blades, as he’d chosen to rip their heads off bare-handed, occasionally utilizing kicks and punches whenever necessary, having no qualms about getting his hands dirtied in the process. Despite that, the speed at which he leapt from target to target was mesmerizing to watch, although Hosuh had to admit that the way he would fling the severed heads to the side was a sight a tad too gruesome for him to stomach.

When the undead’s numbers had reached several dozens and Hosuh started to suspect he would have to start preparing healing spells soon, Stephen joined in the combat. Hosuh had never seen him perform curses of any kind before, so he wasn’t sure what he’d be capable of, but the sight of bright, orange flames he’d conjured igniting a few of the ghastly predators did provide him temporary relief. The flames may not have been blessed, but they’d definitely make Daniel and Jay’s job considerably easier.

He tuned out Stephen’s chanting so it wouldn’t disturb his own spells, which were put to use first in the next few minutes, the enemies increasing in numbers enough for the group to begin genuinely struggling. Progress towards the tower had slowed, as the way forward was blocked off more and more persistently, and while Jay was definitely much better than Daniel at avoiding injury, even he received a couple open wounds, though none of them would do much to slow him down.

The first sign of serious trouble Hosuh recognised was when, about halfway to their end goal, blood had begun spraying from Daniel’s shoulder after a horrifyingly large chunk of it had been ripped off; he’d been patched up fast enough, but the extent of the damage had briefly stunned both him and Hosuh, the former from the sudden flash of pain he must have experienced, the latter from the faint wave of fatigue that washed over him right after. Hosuh may have been a healer, but there was only so much he could do; if he ran out of energy before they could reach the tower, the others would have to brave whatever was left on their own, possibly also having to drag his unconscious body along… Stephen’s fire wouldn’t help them in close combat unless they were also willing to bear severe burns in the process.

Hosuh winced as Jay hit the ground with a sickening _crack_, having gotten flung by a particularly aggressive undead, almost all of his willpower taken up by keeping his panic under control. That may have been the first time he’d witnessed the man be at a disadvantage in a physical confrontation, and the implications of it weren’t good, to say the least. How long would they have to hold out for…? Half an hour, if they were lucky, but at the pace they were currently going at that didn’t seem very likely to work out.

If they still had the bird monster Stephen had resurrected, would they have been able to cross easier…? There was no sign of aerial threat of any kind… Though dark, stormy clouds had gathered in the sky over the tower, Hosuh found himself wishing that they could just risk getting hit by lightning instead, as their current chances weren’t looking so good.

He yelped as he jumped out of the way of an undead that had managed to get past Jay and Daniel, Stephen whacking it away with his staff before grabbing Hosuh by the forearm and yanking him back further; he muttered another spell that Hosuh didn’t recognise, and the undead stopped in its tracks for a moment before it turned to face its own kind, rushing back towards them and slicing at the air with its claws.

“Thank you-“

“Stay focused!” Stephen cut him off, and Hosuh hurriedly resumed his healing duties, now also having to defend himself at the same time if he didn’t wish to deplete his abilities twice as fast.

He wasn’t nearly as graceful at dodging as Jay or Daniel, but he was somehow managing alright, even though with each step taken towards the tower, he was becoming more and more sandwiched between them and Stephen… and the hordes of undead swarming them didn’t seem to be shrinking down. He held in a shriek as one of his sleeves was ripped open, fortunately ending up with only a small scratch, but he didn’t have time to celebrate as he’d stumbled right into another undead, the creature ripping an alarmingly large chunk of hair from his head in his attempt at ducking to get out of its way.

Blood trickled down his neck, and he gritted his teeth; he would just have to bear with it for now… He didn’t want to risk taking his attention off the others, and their wellbeing or even _survival_ was currently much more important than his own.

If he were to fall here… would that be his punishment for running away? He would have been lying to say he wasn’t terrified of the idea of dying here and possibly rising as another mindless undead, but if it meant that his friends would be able to escape in one piece, he would be willing to give his own life for it. Perhaps his spirit would be put to rest peacefully from the knowledge that he’d finally atoned for the sin he’d committed…

Sharp claws punctured his abdomen, and his next spell was interrupted by a heavy fit of coughs, blood dripping down his chin; he inadvertently stammered out a curse he’d heard Stephen use many times, driving his knee into his assailant, shoving a hand someone had laid on his shoulder out of concern, not even checking who it had belonged to.

He wanted to scream, but all he could manage was a weak whimper as his necklace was ripped off, shattering into countless pieces.

He felt a sudden stab of pain around his neck.

At first, he thought he may have finally met his end; he was about to drop to his knees any moment and collapse, what little life he had left draining out of him within seconds. He’d never be able to cook up a meal for his companions again, he’d never be able to reunite with his family, he’d never be able to see if the others even succeeded… but he stayed on his feet, and the pain transformed into a dull ache as the chains that had been wrapped around his neck until now loosened up on their own, starting to give off a red glow. The undead that were closest faltered, and Hosuh’s heart skipped a beat.

Could it be…?

A string of words entered his mind, forming a spell he had never casted before, and yet, they brought with them a sense of familiarity. He wanted to laugh; he’d studied it in passing in the past when he’d snuck a peek at the previous high priest’s holy book when he was young, copying as many pages down as he could in the form of messy scribbles and reading the words out in whispers later in his room under the blanket, having to squint to be able to decipher the letters in the dark.

The magical item felt as though it had become an extension of his own body and mind, and he uttered the spell without hesitation, his surroundings immediately bursting into a bright, violent shade of crimson.

The other three stood by, stunned, seemingly unbothered by the many new cuts they’d acquired as they watched a fiery inferno engulf everything as far as they could see. Stephen had lost his balance and landed on his backside in shock, and Daniel squeezed his eyes shut reflexively while Jay’s own eyes widened; Hosuh let loose a high-spirited giggle, already feeling incredibly lightheaded. He couldn't quite decipher their reactions; they may not have known that flames blessed by holy powers would not harm human beings, or they may have just been startled, but the sight nevertheless made Hosuh want to attempt a cartwheel.

Every single undead had been instantly vaporized, only leaving behind traces of ash.

His vision turned blurry within moments, colorful spots swimming all around; he staggered into someone’s arms – whose, he had no idea –, his legs giving up on him completely. Whether it was from the exhaustion or the overwhelmingly powerful relief, all of his senses had been overloaded at once, and the others’ voices had become muffled enough for him not to be able to make out what they were saying. All he wanted to do was curl up and sleep.

His eyes fluttered closed on their own, and, with the last bit of consciousness that had still remained, he murmured a soft, slurred prayer, letting all the fatigue catch up to him, resigned to what fate lay before him.

The rest was up to everyone else.


	10. Chapter 10

After Hosuh had fainted into Stephen’s arms, all bloody and bruised up, everyone just stood by for a short while; all of them were still in shock about what had just happened, but now that they weren’t under immediate threat, they could actually allow themselves a moment to gather their thoughts.

Jay lifted a hand to his ribcage; he was fairly certain it had been broken during the fight, but apparently one of Hosuh’s spells had repaired it for the most part. His palm came back bloody, and he absentmindedly wiped it on his now tattered pants.

He’d never seen someone use such powerful magic before… He’d concluded that Hosuh had to have been certainly of higher skill level when he’d observed him heal Daniel and Stephen the first time, but he had surpassed his expectations with this most recent demonstration.

He glanced down to look at the shattered pieces of the necklace that had belonged to Hosuh; Daniel bent down to pick them up, gingerly placing them inside a small pouch he’d produced from his bag. Why was he bothering to gather them up like that? Jay couldn’t imagine that Hosuh would still be able to use it when it was in such a state, and repairing magical items was often a nigh impossible task. Perhaps he was collecting it to turn it in for a reward later…? Though silver of this quality wouldn’t be particularly valuable…

Deciding to carry Hosuh on his back, Stephen temporarily handed his staff over to Daniel, giving him an odd look that Jay couldn’t quite decipher.

“You guys can still handle this, right?” Daniel asked afterwards, putting his sword away for the time being; Jay simply nodded, and Stephen clicked his tongue.

“No, I offered to bring Hosuh because I’m planning on passing out myself on the bottom of the stairs. I didn’t want to take a nap all alone.”

Jay’s lips twitched into a faint smile; despite how deadpan he could be in his delivery sometimes, Stephen’s sarcasm was never particularly hard to pick up on. Stephen, of course, would only scowl harder at reactions that betrayed amusement, though.

Jay wondered when he was planning on fulfilling that deal they’d made.

He supposed they hadn’t exactly reached the Gate itself yet, so perhaps they still had some use to get out of him; he didn’t particularly mind either way. The promise he’d made hadn’t been a lie, but, regardless, he figured Stephen was going to make sure that he was going to fulfill it.

It _would_ have been nice to have a bit more time, though… These guys had actually been pretty fun to spend time with, even if he knew one of them outright couldn’t stand him, and the other two more than likely didn’t have especially fond thoughts about him. That had been the reason he’d been so insistent on coming along in the first place. That, and…

As Daniel and Stephen got going, Jay followed after them with his hands in his pockets.

It still remained a mystery to him why they’d been willing to struggle so much for something that would have seemed so out of reach.

Hosuh had talked about a ‘purpose’… That sounded nice. Perhaps Jay was the odd one for not being able to think up something like that on his own; he wondered if the ever-present emptiness in his chest would fill up just a little if he had just one thing he would be willing to throw away anything for, even if it was something he viewed as precious. Then, again, though… he couldn’t think of anything he valued enough that he would have mourned for its loss.

In the end, he couldn’t get Hosuh’s content expression after he’d summoned up that firestorm out of his head.

His thoughts were becoming far too noisy for his liking again, so, with a single breath, he emptied his mind completely, save for what may be useful for completing his task.

As they neared the tower, his gaze slid upwards alongside its walls; there was not a single window to be found, save for just one at the very top and one around the middle, and the walls themselves seemed far too smooth to be able to climb from the outside, which meant they would have to take the slower route. What might await them inside…? The tower didn’t seem particularly wide, so enormous monsters were out of the question, but Jay was well-aware that smaller predators were not to be underestimated.

He still had the sleep-inducing poison and the needles he’d stolen, but those weren’t going to work on anything bigger than a human, and he would have preferred not to use his recently acquired daggers unless absolutely necessary. Daniel was marching forward quite eagerly; maybe he would end up skewering whatever lay ahead before Jay would even have to step in. The part of the mission he’d deemed the most difficult had already been passed, had it not? Though the downside was that their healer was both unconscious and badly injured, so they would still have to watch their steps.

With no more obstacles to slow them down, they arrived at the tower within minutes.

Its walls were of metal, strangely enough; they were still cool to the touch, as the sun hadn’t had enough time yet to heat them up considerably. Why would someone have built a tower of this kind in such an odd location? Maybe it had been intended to be used as a guide for travellers, taking its height into consideration. It had only a single entrance in the form of a sturdy, albeit rusty door, and all three of them had to push it at the same time to get it to open; Daniel almost stumbled inside when it finally gave. The only thing they could see inside was a spiral staircase leading upwards, and Stephen let out a heavy sigh, ignoring the questioning glance Jay sent his way.

“Let’s get this over with…”

And so, they began climbing the stairs.

Daniel lead the group, wielding Stephen’s staff as though he was planning on using it as a weapon; Jay doubted that whacking anything that might show up over the head with a piece of wood was going to do much, but chose not to comment on it. Stephen was wheezing rather hard in front of him, which wasn’t a surprise, considering Hosuh was still on his back, but Jay wasn’t going to offer his assistance, as he was sure Stephen would turn it down immediately and he would only end up wasting his breath.

Just in case, though, he braced himself to possibly have to catch them both later if they were to tumble backwards.

They’d been ascending for a couple minutes when he first assumed his help would be needed; Stephen stopped dead in his tracks, swaying a tad in the process, and Jay held his arms out carefully, but nobody fell. Stephen, instead, scolded Daniel between breaths.

“Why did you… stop all of… a sudden-?”

He must have bumped into Daniel when the latter came to a halt.

“There’s some mirrors hanging from the walls ahead…” Jay heard Daniel explain, though most of what lay ahead of him was currently blocked by Hosuh and Stephen. “They look kind of ominous… You wouldn’t happen to know any curses that involve mirrors, would you…?”

“There’s way too many to count…”

Daniel let out a sigh.

“Thought so…”

Jay poked his head out from behind Stephen.

“If you need me to go ahead-“ he started, but his voice trailed off as Daniel resumed walking, Stephen having to take a few more moments to catch his breath before he could follow after him. Jay shrugged; he should have expected Daniel not to take him up on that.

Soon, Jay himself got to examine the mirrors Daniel had mentioned. They were quite tall; their entire bodies could be seen in each one they passed by, though every image possessed a distortion of some kind due to the various ways the glass was bent. Jay thought he might have heard Stephen mutter one of his usual complaints at one point.

The window Jay had spotted outside stuck out like a sore thumb; it was much tinier than the mirrors that they’d been seeing, and with the way they had been arranged, a person could have stood with their back to it and stretch their arms out, and they still would not have been able to reach the closest mirrors on the side.

At least they had confirmed that they were about halfway there now.

“How are you holding up, Stephen?” Daniel inquired once again, and Stephen grumbled something between his teeth that Jay couldn’t quite make out. “Do you need a break? If you want me to carry Hosuh instead-“

“Why don’t you just leave him here?” Jay raised a brow. “It doesn’t seem particularly unsafe. It seems better than him possibly getting in the way anyway.”

Stephen let out a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a cough.

“Shut up… moron… What do you know…?”

_It was just a suggestion._

Stephen glanced back over his shoulder, possibly to continue his retort, but, in just a moment, his expression shifted from visible annoyance to something akin to shock.

“Dan…”

“What?”

“Did you hear that?”

Jay stilled, his hands ready at his sides.

A second later, Stephen had shoved Daniel out of the way.

Though Jay couldn’t quite see everything that was going on, he caught a glimpse of a thick, cylinder shaped mass of muscle covered in reptilian scales pass right between the two in the front, accompanied by a drawn out hiss; Jay could just barely make out the colossal serpent-like creature smashing into the mirror it had lunged towards, though instead of it shattering into thousands of pieces, its head seemed to pass right through it.

The rest of its body stayed in place outstretched in front of Stephen like an oddly fastened rope, and Jay got to witness him gawk at it briefly before the creature attacked again.

This time, Daniel rolled out of the way on his own, flinging Stephen’s staff aside to reach for his sword, narrowly dodging the monster’s next attack; despite the complaint that was sure to come, Jay plucked Hosuh from Stephen’s back, his hold having already loosened, and he landed a kick that sent him out of harm’s way, landing in front of the window.

Stephen cursed loudly.

Carrying Hosuh in his arms now, Jay leapt past Daniel as he was in the middle of drawing his sword and bringing it down, skidding to a stop next to Stephen and ignoring the vengeful smack to his shin; he narrowed his eyes as Daniel’s blade ended up lodged in the creature’s tough skin, causing him to have to yank on it repeatedly to pull it back out. The creature managed to slice a gash into his thigh just as he finally got it out and staggered backwards, and he clambered up the steps hurriedly until he’d reached the mirrorless section by the window himself, scooping up Stephen’s staff while he was at it. It was a good thing he did that as well, as it soon became clear that they would not be able to head back the same way as they watched more and more of the reptilian creature’s body seal off the direction they’d come from.

The way ahead seemed to be clear; it may have been making an attempt at luring them higher so it could feast on them without having to worry about any of them getting away.

Jay placed Hosuh down for the time being. Stephen tore his staff out of Daniel’s hand, backing up until he’d flattened himself against a blank wall, and Daniel produced a piece of cloth from his bag, tying it swiftly around his wound; now that Hosuh couldn’t heal them anymore with magic, they couldn’t take as many risks that involved getting injured in some way.

Though the situation didn’t feel nearly as hopeless as their fight with the horde of undead that Hosuh had saved them all from, the tension in the air was still thick; they weren’t going to be able to produce an offensive spell of that level again. What _did_ they have left to do…? Jay could occasionally spot the head of the monster slither through a mirror image; there appeared to be only a single one, but it would still be fairly tough to get around without suffering possibly fatal injuries in the process. The same feeling settled in his chest that had hit him when his ribs had been broken; he looked down at his hands, alarmed to find that they were trembling slightly.

Was he… scared? What reason did he have for that, though? He’d faced much bigger and much more terrifying dangers in the past; despite telling himself that, his palms were clammy with sweat, his breaths just a tad shallower than they should have been. _Odd…_

He wiped his hands on his pants.

He was supposed to be concentrating on the mission and nothing else. _On the mission, on the mission, on the mission…_ He squeezed his eyes shut.

The image of Hosuh surrounded by a storm of fire appeared in front of his eyes, and the same words he’d recalled so many times made themselves known once again; he dug his fingers into his hair. He was so close to the answer… Was that why he was afraid? Was he panicking that it would slip right through his fingers as soon as he’d gotten close enough to grasp it…?

Something else began stirring inside of him; he wondered… if he was to perform a gesture similar in kind, would he be able to finally come to a realisation of some sort? Would he be able to understand what it must be like to have something you’d wish to cherish with your life? It seemed almost silly, but the nagging feeling of wanting to know gradually took over his body, causing him to be rather restless; he paid the looks of caution the other two threw his way no mind as he rapidly tapped one of his feet.

Daniel and Stephen flinched simultaneously when Jay whipped around, his gaze flickering all over; a plan had already formed in his head. He opened his mouth to speak, his heart slowly beating faster and faster.

“I have an idea. You guys will have to go ahead on your own, but I just might be able to distract the monster long enough to allow you to pass through.”

Stephen pursed his lips.

“You’re not about to run off on your own, are you?”

Jay’s lips stretched into a wide smile.

“If I wanted to run, I would have already done that a long time ago.”

Fishing out one of his daggers, he tossed it over to Stephen who caught it with a displeased frown.

“You’re going to need these more than I do,” Jay said; he held his second dagger out for Daniel to take, content with keeping a single one on himself in case of an emergency. It may have been his way of promising that he’d return, or expressing his gratitude for letting him travel with them; he himself wasn’t quite sure, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it for too long.

Daniel was hesitant in accepting the offering, staring at it for a few seconds even after he’d gripped it by the hilt. Jay was no mind reader and could not peer into his head to see what he was thinking about, but the enigma had resolved shortly as Daniel reached into his bag, pulling out something Jay recognised as the charm he’d brought with himself from that scavenger girl’s lair. It seemed a little weathered and wrinkled; other than that, though, it appeared to be usable enough; did he feel obligated to give something in return for the gift he’d been presented with?

Jay saw no reason to refuse, and he slipped the charm into his pocket.

Stephen observed the exchange with his mouth shut tightly, his lips resembling a thin line. Whether it was out of respect for Daniel’s wishes or because he didn’t think it would be worth it to waste time picking fights, he stayed completely silent, averting his gaze when his eyes met Jay’s.

Jay supposed he couldn’t blame him for still holding onto his grudge.

With a light wave of his hand, he took the first step.

The monster didn’t hold back this time; its mouth was wide open, its sharp fangs fully visible as it unhinged his jaw, intent on devouring its first victim now that it had the chance to. Jay, however, was prepared; as the monster clamped its jaw shut around his upper body, he’d wedged his arms in-between, gripping the edges of its mouth and keeping it just open enough to avoid being completely crushed.

The monster must not have liked that, as it immediately began thrashing around quite wildly, flinging him in every possible direction in the process, occasionally slamming against a wall or floor, painting them with splatters of blood as his fangs dug deeper into his flesh. The monster was definitely venomous; Jay felt a wave of nausea hit him within moments even before the vertigo had arrived, and he gritted his teeth as he tried his best to steel himself, knowing there was no going back now.

He found his footing by sheer accident, but he took advantage of it straight away, launching himself into the air, dragging the _ridiculously_ heavy monster along. His movements were nowhere as fast as they’d been before, but he’d apparently managed to catch it off-guard enough to be able to haul it to the window.

He smashed the glass with one of his heels, getting only a split-second peek at Daniel and Stephen’s completely stunned faces before he threw himself outside, pulling the monster’s head out with him, its body spilling out like uncoiled rope.

As he plummeted towards the ground, thoughts ran through his head one after another, and he did something he hadn’t done in many, many years: he shrieked.

He’d never been particularly afraid of heights – or falling from them, as a matter of fact –, but he was screaming at the top of his lungs nevertheless, legs flailing around violently, knuckles turning a pale white from how tightly he was gripping the creature, as though it was his only lifeline left. His heart hadn’t raced this much in a while; it was drumming so intensely in his chest he genuinely thought it was going to burst out any second.

All in all, this hadn’t gone like he’d expected at all.

He wondered if death would be painful or painless, if it would be sudden or slow and agonizing, if he would die from his bones shattering first or the venom that was currently coursing through his veins. He wondered if he would survive long enough to be able to witness the results of this absurd plan.

He wondered if Daniel and Stephen would be able to finally complete their quest.

The memory of Daniel’s bloodied thigh flashed in his mind.

Before he could ponder further about the fate of his own existence, his fall came to a stop so sudden he’d bit his own tongue in the process, a metallic taste filling his mouth next, a sharp, intense wave of pain passing through his spine as it let out an audible _crack._ Colorful spots obscured his vision as his arms gave way, unable to muster enough strength to keep the creature’s mouth open any longer.

Strangely, though, the pressure didn’t increase further.

Having lost all sense of time temporarily, Jay had no clue when he’d taken notice, but he appeared to be suspended in the air, the fangs still buried within him the only things keeping him from dropping any further. Drops of violet landed on his clothes one by one from inside the creature’s throat, trickling down steadily enough to soak the fabric in mere moments.

Jay blinked, vaguely registering the jaw around him relax, and he landed on the ground below a second later with a dull thud, the creature’s head only a couple feet away.

It must have snapped its neck when its body ran out of length – its tail may have been stuck inside one of the mirrors… if it even had one.

Jay didn’t move a muscle.

From the corner of his eye, he could see the pocket he’d slipped the charm Daniel had given him into had started to glow at some point, and he realised the nausea he’d felt before was fading already. He pushed himself up into a sitting position without thinking, albeit with quite a bit of difficulty with all the different ways his body was aching; it seemed like the charm had worked its magic and gotten rid of the venom, if nothing else, even if the rest of his injuries remained. Jay could barely believe it; he touched the wounds the fangs had created, staring at them in a dazed, transfixed manner as his skin gradually regained its color.

Burying his face in his hands, he let out a shaky laugh.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posting this at 1am before i probably pass out into bed :,00 epilogue incoming in a hot second

When Jay crashed through the window with the monster, neither Daniel nor Stephen could react at first – and how could they? When Jay mentioned something about a diversion, this wasn’t what either one of them had had in mind. Could he even survive something like that…?

Stephen felt a tug on his sleeve, and he snapped himself back to reality; gathering up Hosuh in his arms, he did his best to keep up with Daniel as they resumed climbing the tower, not daring to slow their steps in case the monster returned, or another one showed up. This wasn’t the time to be dwelling on Jay’s eccentricity.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to carry Hosuh?” Daniel called back, his sword still drawn, Stephen’s staff in his other hand; Stephen may have kicked him if he hadn’t also been worried that he’d end up sending himself backwards in the process.

“Shut up…!” he wheezed instead, all the more determined to make it through. “You’re the one… with the sword… here…!”

He would’ve expected a retort about not wanting to be a meat shield, but Daniel only let out a sigh instead.

Maybe they should have left Hosuh near that window after all…

The higher they got, the more tension Stephen begun to feel despite having left the snake monster behind already; it may have been from the anticipation of what really lay ahead. Even in the best-case scenario… if there were no more monsters guarding the Gate, would he be able to deactivate the runes himself? What if… he did not possess enough knowledge or skill in the end?

He wondered if Daniel would regret choosing to bring him along… If they had been stopped just short of the finish line due to a mistake that could have been avoided…

Stephen was a necromancer, after all; this wasn’t exactly his expertise.

He almost crashed right into Daniel when the man in front of him came to a sudden stop, and Stephen realised they’d reached the top floor already; a sturdy, wooden ladder lead to a hatch in the ceiling, with no other entrance in sight. Daniel turned to Stephen hesitantly, but Stephen cut him off before he could say anything.

“We’ll just have to leave Hosuh here then… There are no more mirrors around, so hopefully he should be fine.”

Daniel blinked in surprise before he nodded.

Stephen gently laid Hosuh onto the floor; his sleeping expression seemed peaceful and serene, which left Stephen feeling hopeful about his condition. There was a good chance he was going to stay asleep for a full day, if not more, and while his wounds had seemed fairly worrying at first, the bleeding had stopped, and his face still had plenty of color.

As Daniel tended to Hosuh’s injuries, Stephen craned his neck to examine the hatch; it seemed to be rather rusty, so it was definitely going to be difficult and noisy to open. He bit his lip as he felt himself shudder, and he tapped Daniel on the shoulder lightly when he was finished taking care of Hosuh.

“We should be careful. I have a really bad feeling about this.”

Daniel pursed his lips and nodded his head as he straightened back up.

He heroically volunteered to go on ahead.

It took him several attempts to get the hatch open, possibly because he was refraining from simply thrusting his entire upper body into it, hoping to aim for a careful and stealthy entrance as Stephen had instructed him to; when the hatch finally gave, he breathed a sigh of relief, raising it up bit by bit to avoid loud creaks that were sure to come otherwise.

Stephen had to summon up all his patience when he saw Daniel pause as he took a look at the top floor, gripping the rails tightly; if he had been by himself, he wasn’t sure he would have had the courage to enter if there was something up there that had made even Daniel hesitate. When the way was finally open, Stephen swallowed anxiously, focusing on each step one by one for the time being.

When he actually poked his head through, he froze, his heart skipping a beat from the moment of pure terror he’d experienced.

The walls were indeed covered in runes that he could recognise, all of them glowing with a bright, violet light, but his attention had instead been captured by the slumbering, scaly creature that lay curled up in the middle, large enough to fill up over half of the entire space. Stephen couldn’t see its eyes, wherever they were, but the slow and steady breaths that hit him each time it exhaled did more than enough to let him know it was most likely taking a nap.

Though the door hadn’t exactly been silent, the sounds it had emitted must not have been enough to wake the monster; Stephen swore silently as he forced his body to move, despite every bit of common sense he had practically screaming at him to get out of there.

The only hiding spot he could see was a bench of some sort up against the wall, also made of metal itself; crawling underneath it may have provided one with an adequate cover. It would have only been enough to fit one person, though…

He gestured at Daniel to get back down, holding the hatch open. Daniel didn’t seem to be fond of the suggestion at all, of course; even though the _bastard’s_ complexion had turned deathly pale, he still wanted to be an unnecessarily self-sacrificial knucklehead until the end. Stephen wouldn’t let him, though; he stubbornly held onto the hatch, giving Daniel a long, silent stare.

Daniel’s pleading look didn’t get to him in the slightest.

However, when it seemed as though he’d finally managed to get through to him, as Daniel reluctantly started to crawl back towards the exit, the hatch was ripped out of Stephen’s hands, and nearly broke his fingers as it slammed itself back shut, accompanied by a deafening _clang_ of metal on metal. Stephen’s ears rung, and he was sure Daniel could tell from his own shock that it hadn’t been his doing; it was as though a force out of his control had chosen to trap them as soon as one of them decided to leave.

Stephen yanked on the handle with all his might, but the hatch didn’t budge.

The creature stirred.

Daniel tore Stephen’s hands away, shoving him at the bench they’d spotted.

“Get under there…!”

Stephen should have protested. He should have stuffed Daniel in there, or insisted that they face the creature together, or searched his mind for a spell to lift the curse that must have been keeping the hatch shut – he should have done _literally anything_ other than obey Daniel’s orders and crawl into the cramped hiding spot on his own, but that was exactly what he did nonetheless.

In a shameful moment of pure fear, Stephen had abandoned his friend.

He was the only one out of the two of them who had even a remote chance of casting the correct spell, and they both knew that; despite that, the regret that followed immediately was almost crippling. Most of his vision was blocked, but he could still see the shadow of the monster grow larger as it got on its feet, a single window providing the main source of light in the room.

Stephen clutched his staff as the monster let out a thunderous roar.

It was too late. He didn’t have many options now; he could either cower in silence like a pathetic brat, or he could believe that Daniel would be able to handle himself as he focused on his own task…

Only one of those options was worth picking.

He would not have the chance to stop. He did not have enough time to start over if he fumbled his words or tripped over his own tongue; Daniel’s life was on the line here, and he only had one shot. The idea of it was honest-to-gods terrifying, but Daniel had faith, Daniel had trusted him with it.

Stephen took a deep breath; steeling himself for what was about to come, and he began the chant.

The walls of the tower shook as the monster thrashed around wildly; Daniel could not have had a lot of space left to use to his advantage. The window was far too high up for him to be able to pull the same trick Jay had, and though Stephen only had his ears to rely on, it was easy to tell Daniel was struggling.

Blood splashed onto the floor, and it wasn’t violet.

Stephen caught a glimpse of him as he was flung into a wall, and he reflexively squeezed his eyes shut, pouring all his willpower into tuning out the outside world to focus on his spell, cold sweat dripping down his forehead. He wasn’t going to let his voice waver or shake, and he wasn’t going to get choked up.

What would Daniel have done in his place…? What even was the right thing to do…? Perhaps if Stephen had entered first, he could have simply signaled Daniel to just stay down; so why hadn’t he?

He knew the answer already, though… He’d gotten much too used to Daniel’s selfless gestures of heroism, be it grand or tiny. He’d grown to rely on him too much; he’d gotten too comfortable using him to protect himself, thinking that he’d be invincible, thinking that he would be just fine.

Daniel had never been invincible, though. He wasn’t some mythological demigod, nor was he a hero that had popped right out of a storybook. He was just a regular adventurer with perhaps a skull thicker than average, but Stephen himself had witnessed all the times he’d failed a task, all the times he’d gotten badly injured; how could he have forgotten that?

Daniel screamed for the first time, and Stephen’s fingers curled even tighter around his staff. He wanted to scream himself. He was still the same scared child that he had been when he’d stumbled upon the bodies of his family the first time; he forced down a wave of nausea. This must have been divine punishment…_ right?_

Daniel’s shouts got quieter and quieter, soon resembling a whimper, each outcry accompanied by stomach-turning noises that Stephen was sure would return later to haunt his nightmares if he managed to get out alive, and Stephen’s own voice rose in intensity.

Daniel didn’t deserve this. When he’d tried to fulfill Joseph’s wishes, only for their plan to blow up in their faces, he hadn’t deserved that. When Stephen had almost killed him with his own two hands, when he’d passed out from heat exhaustion, when he’d shed so much blood during the battle with the undead… He hadn’t deserved any of that. Did the gods not have any mercy for him…?

Had Hosuh’s prayers ever done them any good…?

A broken piece of Daniel’s sword slipped across the floor to stop right in front of him.

_Just let this be over already._

Stephen arrived at the final verse.

Daniel was still alive, there was still time, there was still a chance; if Stephen was going to have to drag his unconscious body down alongside Hosuh’s, then so be it, but he wasn’t going to let him die on him now. Not after everything they’d been through, not after they’d come this far, not after Daniel had promised he’d make their quest be worth it in the end…

He uttered the last few words in practically a trance, and the bright, white light that suddenly filled the entire room left him blinded for the next minute, spots of all sizes and shapes dancing in his vision. His staff felt hot in his hands, almost as though it was on fire, but he didn’t dare let go lest the spell be cut short; he soon realised his hands were now slippery with blood, not sweat, as the wood had dug into his palms hard enough to break skin.

As bits of ash rained down, covering every exposed inch of the floor as far as Stephen could see, the room had become eerily silent; Stephen finally dared to crawl out from underneath the bench again, disregarding all the dirt that clung to his clothes and skin now.

The monster was nowhere to be seen; his heart swelled with relief upon realising that he had indeed succeeded. The runes were glowing no more, and they already seemed much more worn out and faded, giving off the appearance of an old hermit’s scribbles rather than the energy source for a powerful portal to another world. Stephen’s hands trembled, his staff ending up on the floor with a brief clatter as soon as his grip on it had loosened.

When his gaze finally settled on Daniel, however, the nigh euphoric feelings that had flooded him vanished all at once.

Daniel’s sword had been shattered; the hilt lay a couple feet away, pieces of the blade scattered around and glittering in the light of the sun. In Daniel’s hand was the dagger Jay had given him, though the tip of it had gotten mixed up with the rest of the metal shards. He was lying on his back in a puddle of scarlet, his clothes and armor torn and tattered.

Ugly, dark bruises had formed over his entire body, and the way his limbs had been twisted, Stephen couldn’t tell which of his bones _hadn’t_ been broken; bits of muscle and bone peeked out from deep, gory gashes, and his face was a bloody mess, the left side barely recognisable as belonging to a person. Gone was the upbeat, naive adventurer Stephen had come to know and care for, a pitiful, broken shell of a human having been left in its place.

The sight was heartbreaking.

When he took notice of Daniel’s chest rising weakly, he stumbled over his own feet to get closer, his legs giving up on him soon enough as he collapsed onto his knees right next to him. The one good eye Daniel had left was glazed over, but he was indeed still breathing even now, albeit faintly.

Stephen hated that the hope he’d been just given would inevitably be torn away in just a few minutes.

He reached out to hold one of Daniel’s hands.

“Dan… Daniel…”

Daniel managed a soft _‘Huh…?’_, his eye finding Stephen.

“Hey…” Stephen swallowed as he desperately tried to get his voice to stop shaking, feeling Daniel softly squeeze his hand. “It worked… You did it…”

A fit of coughs briefly took over Daniel as he tried to speak, needing several attempts before he could respond properly; blood dripped down his jaw as his split lips stretched into a small smile.

“You mean… _we_ did it, right…? Together…?”

Stephen’s shoulders shook; he wanted to punch him in the face for that.

“Yeah… We did it. I didn’t think we would… but we pulled off this ridiculous quest of yours.”

Daniel made a soft noise that sounded oddly similar to his usual laugh.

Stephen’s chest was tight, the sharp ache inside of it growing stronger and stronger with each second that passed; it was as though someone had dug an invisible knife into his heart and was twisting it further. Daniel’s hand slipped out of his hold, and Stephen’s breath hitched from panic, only to realise he was reaching for the silver ring that had fallen off, grasping it once again. His face contorted even more with each movement he made, as though even such a small gesture was causing him intense agony, and he gritted his teeth as he lifted the item, clumsily slipping it on Stephen’s index finger.

“Thanks… for keeping that promise you made…” Daniel’s hand dropped back onto the floor, splashing a bit of blood onto Stephen’s in the process. “I’m so glad… you came here with me…”

He opened his mouth one last time to say something else, but the words never came.

Stephen dug his fingers into his hair, gripping chunks of it tightly, not even caring that he was covering it in even more blood and ash; the sting on his scalp was nothing compared to the excruciating pain in his chest, and he doubled over as his eyes filled with tears, clutching the ring he’d been given by Daniel.

A necromancer that couldn’t even bring people back from the dead… Whoever had created the rules of this world had to have been exceptionally cruel.

Stephen choked back a sob.

* * *

Jay had been covered by ash from head to toe. He’d watched the Gate close in the exact same spot he’d fallen onto as he hadn’t gathered enough will or energy to move yet – he would have imagined it to be much more dramatic and loud, but the light had merely shrunk down until it had disappeared completely, leaving behind not a single trace. The corpse of the monster had crumbled, and Jay had had to quickly shield his face to avoid ending up with a mouthful of ash.

He supposed Stephen and Daniel had succeeded.

He was very much still aching all over, and while he wanted to force himself to stand, he also couldn’t bring himself to. He supposed he would just wait for the other two to carry Hosuh back down, and then the deal he had made with Stephen would finally be fulfilled. The thought left behind a bitter aftertaste; he let his head loll to the side.

What good would it do him to run away now? He’d gotten what he’d asked for, hadn’t he…?

He breathed a tired sigh.

He’d been zoned out for a while by the time the first set of steps reached his ears, and he only craned his neck slightly so he could get a good look at whoever was arriving from the tower. An all too familiar cloak came into view; ‘Stephen’, he figured. Daniel was perhaps further behind with their third companion.

As his gaze shifted upwards, though, Jay realised his assumption had been false.

Stephen cradled Daniel’s body; even from his current distance, Jay had no doubts Daniel had passed. Stephen’s face was obscured by his hood as he walked past Jay without a word, and Jay turned his head to follow him with his eyes, though he made no attempts at addressing Stephen either.

There weren’t many trees to be found nearby, but Stephen approached one taller than the rest, ripe peaches hanging off its branches. He laid Daniel onto the grass; he’d been holding onto his staff by wedging it between his shoulder and his neck, and while Jay had, at first, thought he was getting ready to cast a spell, he placed the staff aside as well, rolling up his sleeves.

Reaching into Daniel’s bag, which had been slung over one of his shoulders, he took out a small shovel; he got on his knees, and Jay gave him a long, blank stare as he began to dig a hole. Surely it would be easier to complete the task with magic…? Stephen must have been aware of that too, but, if he was, Jay certainly saw no signs of it.

Jay pushed himself up with a bit of difficulty; he may have had to check up on Hosuh himself.

Stephen didn’t even glance in his direction as Jay headed towards the entrance again and started to climb the stairs.

He happened upon Hosuh near the top; his rest had not been disturbed, and his injuries had been treated. Without wondering if he would be able to handle the weight, Jay bent down to pick him up, lifting him with a small grunt, and he waited to steady himself before he turned around to take him back down.

Hosuh was fortunately light enough that it didn’t prove to be quite as challenging as Jay had assumed it was going to be.

He didn’t bother giving the top floor a look – why should he have? He could vividly imagine what he would have seen if he had taken a peek inside after he’d seen what had happened to Daniel. He doubted Hosuh would want to stick around for it either.

By the time he’d reached the ground floor again, Stephen hadn’t made much progress at all – which didn’t surprise Jay in the slightest –, but he showed no signs of frustration. Jay placed Hosuh down carefully as he took a seat in the grass, crossing his legs, resigning himself to waiting patiently for Stephen to be finished.

His work lasted until the sun had started to dip beyond the horizon.

Jay hadn’t moved an inch – in fact, he hadn’t even thought much of anything at all, having emptied his mind completely, only vaguely aware of the seconds, minutes, then hours that passed by; he was used to having nothing to be able to occupy himself with. Stephen, despite his visible exhaustion, had only occasionally stopped to take breaks so he could drink, resuming digging immediately once he’d chugged enough water.

Now that he was finally finished, he wiped the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead, gathering up Daniel’s body.

Jay had never seen a burial before.

The hole was deep enough that wild animals were unlikely to dig it back up afterwards, and Daniel fit inside rather easily; Stephen had draped his own cloak over his body, which Jay didn’t understand, but he was sure he wouldn’t receive an answer if he were to ask.

The light of the moon illuminated their surroundings when Stephen was done burying him; his shoulders hung low, and he seemed to be shivering a little. The shovel dropped from his hands.

Jay was the next one to be addressed.

A pair of daggers was pointed his way; Jay said nothing, not knowing what the gesture meant, merely recognising them as the same weapons he’d gifted to Stephen and Daniel. Did Stephen perhaps intend to kill him with them? In that case, why did he seem like he was waiting for Jay to do or say something himself?

Stephen clicked his tongue.

He spun the daggers around in his hands so the handles were facing Jay instead, holding them by the blades, wincing slightly when one of them cut a small, bloody scratch into his palm in the process.

“Take these back. I don’t want to see them again.”

Jay blinked.

His fingers curled around the handles, and Stephen drew his – now empty – hands back, but Jay didn’t know what to think. Even though he’d found Stephen easier to read than the others, his expression was far too complex for Jay to be able to see past it; he may as well have tied a blindfold around his head.

As Stephen took a step back, Jay spoke up.

“What about the deal we made?”

Stephen wasn’t looking him in the eyes.

“I won’t spill more blood over the grave of my friend.”

His tone appeared calm, but Jay could sense the tension lying underneath it.

“You have no business staying here now. And if you’ve grown to value your life, you’ll make sure we never cross paths again.”

Appearing as though he was about to shove past him, Stephen hesitated before he simply stepped aside, walking over to the unconscious Hosuh to presumably take a look at his current condition.

Jay slipped the daggers into his pockets.


	12. Epilogue

The rising sun coated everything in a thin layer of gold, the few clouds that were floating by above a mix of pale yellows and pinks, the sky itself warm reds and oranges.

Hosuh winced as he sat down next to Stephen.

Stephen had told him everything that had happened, and Hosuh had listened without a word, without any interruptions on his behalf. He’d only laid a hand on the man’s shoulder when the story was finished, and Stephen went silent in that moment, not even swatting it away like he would have more than likely done so any other time.

Hosuh’s last offering to Daniel had been a prayer.

Stephen’s arms were loosely wrapped around himself; his cloak was gone, and the night hadn’t been especially warm. He’d let Hosuh know earlier that Jay had left as well, which meant it was only the two of them left now; Hosuh scooted a bit closer as he brought himself to break the silence.

“I’m thinking of going back home… You know, now that everything has been resolved.”

Stephen hummed.

“I just… really miss everyone,” Hosuh continued, briefly blowing a puff of hot air onto his fingers before rubbing his hands together in an attempt to warm them a tad. “I’m still pretty nervous, but… I don’t think whatever awaits me back there will be as bad as I’m expecting it to be. I think Daniel would have probably agreed with me about that.”

He carefully glanced at Stephen from the corner of his eye.

“What would you say about coming with me?”

Stephen turned his head to look at him, but Hosuh quickly resumed, not daring to peek at his expression.

“I’d imagine you’d prefer to have a bed to sleep in, right…?” he laughed nervously, fidgeting with his hands in his lap. “The townspeople are all really nice, so I’m sure we could find a place for you.”

Stephen’s reply took an agonizingly long time to arrive.

Hosuh flinched when he heard him let out a soft chuckle, and Hosuh finally let their eyes meet.

Stephen was smiling. It was a weak, tired smile, packed to the brim with a whirlpool of emotions that crashed into Hosuh all at the same time, as though he’d been dropped in the middle of the ocean, but… it was, nonetheless, a smile.

Hosuh let out the breath he hadn’t even realised he’d been holding and Stephen gave him a gentle shove.

“You’re not just looking for a bodyguard for the way back so you don’t get robbed again, are you?”

His words seemed harsh, but his tone was soft; Hosuh felt himself relax.

“I don’t think you’d make a very effective bodyguard anyway,” he shot back.

“I would turn anyone who dared to accost us into one of my minions.”

“Oh, gods, please don’t… I’ve had enough of the undead for the rest of my life after this.”

Stephen laughed; he must have been feeling at least somewhat okay by now if he was capable of cracking jokes like that.

“You should brag to your family that you helped with closing the Gate,” he suggested, leaning backwards on one of his hands. “I bet you’d receive a welcome even warmer.”

“As if that sounds even remotely believable…” Hosuh sighed, though part of him wondered if it was worth a try, unsure if he even had enough pride or dignity left to need to worry about it decreasing further.

“Daniel would shoot you down very fast for that.”

“Yeah, well, Daniel doesn’t like to use his head very often-“ Hosuh blurted out without thinking, realising a moment later that his phrasing may have needed a bit of work; an awkward silence descended upon them, and he sensed that the mood had just gotten a little heavier again.

He coughed in surprise as Stephen gave him a couple pats on the back a few seconds later.

“You’re right,” Stephen said, stretching his back afterwards. “I really could use a bed.”

He got to his feet, and Hosuh scrambled to follow, almost tripping over his own ankles in the process; Stephen steadied him by the shoulder.

As the sky turned brighter and brighter, the sun rising higher, all the dew that decorated the grass around them glittered like tiny fragments of diamonds, and the gentle breeze of the wind ruffled the pair’s hair slightly. Stephen picked off a peach from the tree nearest to them, and he tossed it over to Hosuh before he selected another one for himself, Hosuh fumbling to grab the fruit out of the air.

The skin was soft and fuzzy, and the peach fit perfectly into Hosuh’s hands, firm enough to let him know it wasn’t quite at peak ripeness yet, but would still be fine to eat. A bit of the juice dripped down his chin as he took a bite, attempting to wipe his mouth clean straight away with embarrassed movements, still not used to eating in a messy manner.

Standing underneath the morning sun alongside Stephen, his heart filled with more hope than he’d allowed himself to feel in a very, very long time, knowing that he would soon step back into a world that had possibly grown just a bit warmer, just a little less cruel, the peach tasted more sweet than sour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the whole thing is up now, wooooooo *blows into party popper*
> 
> if youve gotten this far, i would really appreciate it if you left a comment below letting me know what you thought! :,0 im just a tiny little crow wanting to be appreciated


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